Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 43,582 Shares of Global Payments Inc. $GPN

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its stake in Global Payments Inc. by 11.5%, selling 43,582 shares and holding 334,153 shares valued at approximately $32.72 million after the transaction.
• Global Payments announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, which reflects a 1.2% dividend yield, and will be distributed to investors on September 26th.
• Despite the stake reduction by some funds, several hedge funds, including Golden State Wealth Management, significantly increased their positions, indicating a mixed sentiment about the stock among institutional investors.

Alliancebernstein L.P. lowered its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 11.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 334,153 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 43,582 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.14% of Global Payments worth $32,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 546.6% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 375 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 4,866.7% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 447 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GPN shares. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nineteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $112.21.

Global Payments Trading Down 1.5%

Global Payments stock traded down $1.33 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $85.35. The stock had a trading volume of 1,344,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,990,322. The stock has a market cap of $20.71 billion, a PE ratio of 14.92, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.97. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.93 and a 52 week high of $120.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.96.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 12.47%. The company's revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. Analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Global Payments's payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In other news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $172,000.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 30,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,641,318. The trade was a 6.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

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.