Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 2,528 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lessened its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 4.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 56,983 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,528 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $5,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Global Payments in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cowen downgraded shares of Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Truist Financial began coverage on Global Payments in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $79.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $86.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, April 25th. 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 MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.91.

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE GPN opened at $78.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $19.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.93. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $78.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.08. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.93 and a 1 year high of $120.00.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.73 by $0.09. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Global Payments’s 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.