AM Investment Strategies LLC Sells 2,635 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

AM Investment Strategies LLC reduced its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 19.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,166 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,635 shares during the period. AM Investment Strategies LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $1,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GPN. Stanley Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Global Payments by 18.9% in the second quarter. Stanley Capital Management LLC now owns 125,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,146,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 12.3% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 267,483 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,775,000 after buying an additional 29,289 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in Global Payments by 8.8% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 302,364 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,414,000 after buying an additional 24,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC raised its position in Global Payments by 20.6% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 172,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,723,000 after acquiring an additional 29,503 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $166,305.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,087.63. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GPN shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Global Payments from $126.00 to $122.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Global Payments to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $147.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.50.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:GPN traded up $0.73 during trading on Friday, hitting $104.44. The company had a trading volume of 2,469,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,273,868. The stock has a market cap of $26.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.24. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $91.60 and a one year high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 13.61%. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.48 earnings per share. Global Payments’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

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.