RFG Advisory LLC Has $432,000 Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

RFG Advisory LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 18.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,415 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 989 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $432,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 129.7% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 11,988 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 6,769 shares during the period. Paladin Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 12.9% during the first quarter. Paladin Wealth LLC now owns 5,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 19.3% during the first quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 179,401 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,567,000 after purchasing an additional 29,039 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in Global Payments during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Global Payments by 3.1% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 56,873 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,693 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GPN shares. Bank of America reduced their price target on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Cowen cut Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Global Payments from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wolfe Research restated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Global Payments from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.91.

Global Payments Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of GPN opened at $76.88 on Friday. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $65.93 and a one year high of $120.00. The company has a market cap of $18.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.11.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.73 by $0.09. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.13%.

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.