Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,731 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 232 shares during the quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GPN. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted 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 valued at $330,516,000 after purchasing an additional 349,457 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $203,047,000 after purchasing an additional 785,539 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $562,000. Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,313 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 106.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 50,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,682,000 after purchasing an additional 26,104 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GPN shares. Bank of America lowered their target price 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. Stephens cut Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.33.

Global Payments Stock Up 0.6 %

Global Payments stock opened at $103.83 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $25.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.00. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 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.

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 firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Equities analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,957,608. This trade represents 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 accessible through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Global Payments

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.