Rothschild Investment LLC Lowers Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Rothschild Investment LLC cut its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,559 shares during the quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $6,642,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 25,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,662,000 after buying an additional 1,959 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 9.4% in the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 40.6% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,655 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust bought a new stake in Global Payments during the third quarter valued at about $200,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 7,624.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 102,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,458,000 after acquiring an additional 100,791 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 target price (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Global Payments Stock Performance

GPN opened at $103.19 on Monday. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $140.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $25.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s 50 day moving average is $109.94 and its 200-day moving average is $109.00.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. On average, analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. 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.