Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 7,777 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 30.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,777 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $2,213,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Global Payments by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 44,137 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,605,000 after purchasing an additional 863 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Global Payments by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 364,909 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,343,000 after purchasing an additional 12,980 shares in the last quarter. Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $231,000. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in Global Payments by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 5,375 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:GPN opened at $133.66 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $34.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $133.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.73. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $95.12 and a 1 year high of $141.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 10.22%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.94 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Global Payments from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. B. Riley upped their target price on Global Payments from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. TheStreet raised Global Payments from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Global Payments from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $151.92.

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.