Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Sold by Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lowered its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 124,153 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,533 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $13,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 3.4% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,638,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $679,952,000 after acquiring an additional 215,399 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Global Payments by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $605,078,000 after purchasing an additional 31,934 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $564,437,000 after purchasing an additional 83,481 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $330,516,000 after buying an additional 349,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted 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 buying an additional 490,411 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Performance

GPN opened at $105.67 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $26.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $110.97 and a 200-day moving average of $108.65. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 13.61%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is 18.83%.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GPN. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued 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. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.76.

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.