Janus Henderson Group PLC Sells 9,486 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Janus Henderson Group PLC cut its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,151,164 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,486 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned approximately 0.84% of Global Payments worth $287,522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Global Payments by 54.5% in the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its stake in Global Payments by 154.7% in the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 354 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, VP Andrea M. Carter sold 3,300 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.34, for a total transaction of $367,422.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,806,770.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:GPN traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $101.82. 998,751 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,293,140. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $117.15. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $91.60 and a one year high of $141.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.98.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 13.40%. Sell-side analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GPN shares. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Global Payments from $160.00 to $157.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Global Payments from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $172.00 target price on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Global Payments from $182.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.32.

About Global Payments

Global Payments Inc provides payment technology and software solutions for card, check, and digital-based payments in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through two segments, Merchant Solutions and Issuer Solutions. The Merchant Solutions segment offers authorization, settlement and funding, customer support, chargeback resolution, terminal rental, sales and deployment, payment security, and consolidated billing and reporting services.