Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Stake Lowered by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp lowered its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 247,983 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 21,501 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp owned about 0.10% of Global Payments worth $27,789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GPN. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in Global Payments by 59.6% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 383 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GPN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stephens downgraded Global Payments from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Global Payments presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $134.33.

Global Payments Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:GPN traded down $2.39 during trading on Friday, hitting $103.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,189,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,744,548. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $140.38. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $110.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.75. The company has a market capitalization of $25.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.01.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments's payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

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.