Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Sold by First Horizon Advisors Inc.

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,853 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 219 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $208,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Global Payments in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in Global Payments by 94.4% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 517 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 177.5% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 27.2% during the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 543 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GPN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $103.48 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $25.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.01. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.60 and a 52 week high of $140.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.18%.

Global Payments Profile

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.