American International Group Inc. Sells 182 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

American International Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,078 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 182 shares during the quarter. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $9,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Global Payments by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,087,801 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $646,151,000 after acquiring an additional 132,635 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth $365,933,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,192,227 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $278,413,000 after buying an additional 477,390 shares during the period. Glenview Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Glenview Capital Management LLC now owns 1,948,128 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $247,412,000 after purchasing an additional 100,993 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lyrical Asset Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 1,764,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $224,044,000 after purchasing an additional 14,235 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $143.00 to $128.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.32.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Andrea M. Carter sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.34, for a total value of $367,422.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,209 shares in the company, valued at $2,806,770.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

GPN stock traded up $1.44 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $99.82. 634,950 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,309,089. The company has a market cap of $25.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $98.73 and its 200 day moving average is $117.92. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.60 and a 12-month high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion for 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.09 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.84%.

Global Payments Company 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.