Investment House LLC Trims Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Investment House LLC decreased its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 39.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 73,046 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 48,038 shares during the period. Investment House LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $8,186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Global Payments by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,760,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc raised its stake in Global Payments by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 28,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,164,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its stake in Global Payments by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in Global Payments by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 992 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC raised its stake in Global Payments by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $413,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Up 0.1 %

GPN opened at $95.78 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.95. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.99 and a 52 week high of $136.36. The company has a market capitalization of $23.55 billion, a PE ratio of 15.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 16.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GPN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 target price (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Global Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.33.

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.