Swiss National Bank Sells 38,900 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Swiss National Bank decreased its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 718,751 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 38,900 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.28% of Global Payments worth $80,543,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GPN. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Global Payments by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,298,846 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $929,969,000 after buying an additional 1,659,984 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Global Payments by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,445 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $605,078,000 after acquiring an additional 31,934 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $564,437,000 after acquiring an additional 83,481 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $330,516,000 after purchasing an additional 349,457 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $271,090,000 after purchasing an additional 490,411 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

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Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN stock traded up $2.23 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $98.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,744,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,075,638. The business has a fifty day moving average of $105.37 and a 200-day moving average of $107.95. The company has a market cap of $24.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.99 and a 52 week high of $136.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is 16.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stephens downgraded shares of Global Payments from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $134.33.

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.