Spire Wealth Management Sells 230 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Spire Wealth Management decreased its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,647 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 230 shares during the quarter. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $602,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GPN. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in Global Payments by 70.4% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 564 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 60.5% in the third quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 19,593 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 7,387 shares in the last quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at $1,815,000. AFS Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $202,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Global Payments by 138.5% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,323 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,089,000 after buying an additional 14,125 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. TheStreet upgraded Global Payments from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $129.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $182.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Global Payments from $158.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.00.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $111.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $28.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $126.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.72. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $95.12 and a 1 year high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.84%.

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.