Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Sells 250 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lessened its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,211 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 65.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $203,047,000 after buying an additional 785,539 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 188.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $109,857,000 after acquiring an additional 755,898 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 22.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $271,090,000 after purchasing an additional 490,411 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 316.7% in the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 609,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $58,981,000 after purchasing an additional 463,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the third quarter worth $47,113,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Up 1.0 %

GPN stock opened at $106.75 on Tuesday. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.10, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $114.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.88.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens downgraded Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday. William Blair cut Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $135.71.

Global Payments 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.