Waverly Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Waverly Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,411 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,064 shares during the quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $5,761,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $825,000 after acquiring an additional 1,604 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 5,219 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $585,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $277,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 770.1% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,819 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 2,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Red Spruce Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 22,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,551,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GPN shares. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Global Payments from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Williams Trading set a $75.00 price target on Global Payments in a report on Friday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Global Payments from $105.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.43.

Global Payments Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of GPN stock opened at $79.69 on Wednesday. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.93 and a 1 year high of $120.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.43 billion, a PE ratio of 12.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $84.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.73 by $0.09. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 16.13%.

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.