Cannell & Spears LLC Sells 2,597 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Cannell & Spears LLC lowered its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 11.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,334 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,597 shares during the period. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $2,279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $345,823,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,298,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $929,969,000 after acquiring an additional 1,659,984 shares during the last quarter. Focused Investors LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $99,969,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Global Payments by 1,559.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 548,833 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,502,000 after acquiring an additional 515,763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Global Payments by 22.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $98.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $103.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.99 and a 12 month high of $133.63.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued 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 return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Equities analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 16.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GPN. Bank of America cut their price objective on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 price objective (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.10.

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.