Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 381 Shares of Global Payments Inc. $GPN

Securian Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 12,735 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 381 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $1,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth $725,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 76.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 1,610 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 27.3% in the 1st quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 2,855 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 106,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,471,000 after acquiring an additional 8,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 4,866.7% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 447 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $87.50 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $86.52 and its 200 day moving average is $81.83. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.93 and a 1 year high of $120.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.47% and a net margin of 15.07%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 12th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on GPN shares. Citigroup started coverage on Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Global Payments from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. 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 research report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group upped their target price on Global Payments from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Global Payments from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.37.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Global Payments news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,641,318. The trade was a 6.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

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.