Parnassus Investments LLC Cuts Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Parnassus Investments LLC lessened its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 16.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,098,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 212,828 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $123,046,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,850 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after buying an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the third quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $562,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 114.3% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 66,570 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,818,000 after purchasing an additional 35,512 shares during the period. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 8,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $846,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens lowered shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $92.16 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $22.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $106.42 and a 200 day moving average of $108.29. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.99 and a 52 week high of $136.36.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.18%.

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.