Leavell Investment Management Inc. Sells 8,173 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 9.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 76,705 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 8,173 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Global Payments were worth $7,511,000 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. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the first quarter worth $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 4,866.7% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 447 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 9,580.0% in the first quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 484 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GPN shares. Evercore ISI started coverage on Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Global Payments from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research restated a "peer perform" rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $111.09.

Global Payments Stock Down 2.2%

Global Payments stock traded down $1.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $79.44. 506,030 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,499,981. The stock has a market cap of $19.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $78.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.98. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.93 and a 1-year high of $120.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.73 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 12.33%. The firm's revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.59 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is 16.13%.

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.