Weitz Investment Management Inc. Sells 9,600 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Weitz Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 580,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,600 shares during the period. Global Payments comprises about 3.0% of Weitz Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Weitz Investment Management Inc. owned 0.24% of Global Payments worth $56,794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 33,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,795,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Global Payments by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Global Payments by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its holdings in Global Payments by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 4,342 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 10,382 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,163,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $78.00 on Monday. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.93 and a fifty-two week high of $120.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.45. The stock has a market cap of $19.02 billion, a PE ratio of 12.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.73 by $0.09. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.33% and a net margin of 15.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.59 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued 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 1.3%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $114.00 in a report on Friday, July 25th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, April 18th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Global Payments from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Global Payments from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.65.

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.