Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 157,205 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 35.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 291,059 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 157,205 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.11% of Global Payments worth $28,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 25.3% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,456 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Global Payments by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 102,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,899,000 after acquiring an additional 10,796 shares in the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 3,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the period. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 69.1% during the 2nd quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 258,573 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,004,000 after purchasing an additional 105,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 10.9% in the second quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 25,604 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,476,000 after purchasing an additional 2,509 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GPN shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $157.00 to $147.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $152.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Global Payments from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Global Payments from $172.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $166,305.23. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of GPN opened at $111.01 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $101.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.28. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $141.77. The company has a market capitalization of $28.25 billion, a PE ratio of 22.03, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.84%.

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.