Forge First Asset Management Inc. Has $5.81 Million Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Key Points

• Forge First Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Global Payments Inc. by 35.6% during the first quarter, leaving it with approximately 59,300 shares worth about $5.81 million.
• Global Payments recently reported earnings of $2.82 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, while revenue remained stable at $2.20 billion.
• The stock has a current consensus rating of "Hold" with a target price of $111.65, despite varying analyst outlooks including upgrades and downgrades over recent months.

Forge First Asset Management Inc. cut its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 35.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,300 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 32,778 shares during the quarter. Global Payments comprises 2.5% of Forge First Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Forge First Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Global Payments were worth $5,811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Global Payments during the 1st quarter valued at about $448,000. Goodman Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Goodman Financial Corp now owns 126,877 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $12,424,000 after purchasing an additional 3,010 shares during the last quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 291,101 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $28,505,000 after purchasing an additional 8,168 shares during the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 49,179 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,816,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 1st quarter worth approximately $474,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Down 2.4%

NYSE GPN traded down $1.95 during trading on Friday, reaching $78.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,099,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,166,974. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.02 billion, a PE ratio of 12.58, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $79.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.45. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.93 and a 1-year high of $120.00.

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

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Global Payments's payout ratio is presently 16.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GPN. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Global Payments from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $86.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a "peer perform" rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Global Payments from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $114.00 in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $111.65.

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.