Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,618 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 32.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,302 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,618 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Global Payments by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,087,801 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $646,151,000 after purchasing an additional 132,635 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,402,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $392,657,000 after buying an additional 89,057 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,980,048 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $379,777,000 after buying an additional 76,606 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $365,933,000. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Global Payments by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,192,227 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $278,413,000 after acquiring an additional 477,390 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on GPN. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Global Payments from $160.00 to $157.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Global Payments from $158.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.68.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, VP Andrea M. Carter sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.34, for a total value of $367,422.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,806,770.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Global Payments Price Performance

GPN opened at $96.55 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $103.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.98. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.07. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.17 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.09 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is currently 19.84%.

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.