Swiss National Bank Lowers Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 4.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 779,851 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 33,100 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.31% of Global Payments worth $104,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Global Payments by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,087,801 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $646,151,000 after acquiring an additional 132,635 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,980,048 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $379,777,000 after buying an additional 76,606 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $365,933,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 27.8% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,192,227 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $278,413,000 after buying an additional 477,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Glenview Capital Management LLC now owns 1,948,128 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $247,412,000 after buying an additional 100,993 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Andrea M. Carter sold 3,300 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.34, for a total transaction of $367,422.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 25,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,806,770.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

Global Payments stock traded up $1.02 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $98.47. The company had a trading volume of 61,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,314,313. The company has a market capitalization of $25.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.98. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.60 and a 12-month high of $141.77. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.07. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.09 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is presently 19.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays reduced their target price on Global Payments from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Global Payments from $129.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.32.

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.