Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Sells 1,156 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI cut its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 82,749 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,156 shares during the period. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $8,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stanley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 18.9% during the second quarter. Stanley Capital Management LLC now owns 125,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,146,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 267,483 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,775,000 after purchasing an additional 29,289 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in Global Payments by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 302,364 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,414,000 after buying an additional 24,415 shares during the period. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC lifted its position in Global Payments by 20.6% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 172,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,723,000 after buying an additional 29,503 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GPN shares. BNP Paribas raised shares of Global Payments to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.82.

Global Payments Price Performance

GPN opened at $102.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.11 billion, a PE ratio of 20.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The business’s 50-day moving average is $105.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.82. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.60 and a 1 year high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 11.93%. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.48 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is presently 19.84%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $166,305.23. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,087.63. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.98% 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.