Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Sold by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. lessened its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 13.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,333 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 680 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Global Payments by 0.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,760,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew 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 worth $250,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in Global Payments by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 992 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in Global Payments by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,068 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the purchase, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 target price (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens lowered Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Global Payments has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

Global Payments Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of GPN opened at $97.06 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $24.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.70, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $107.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.63.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. On average, research analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.