Cibc World Markets Corp Sells 9,169 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Cibc World Markets Corp trimmed its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 18.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,176 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,169 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $4,502,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased 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 acquiring an additional 349,457 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Global Payments by 65.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 9.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Global Payments by 106.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Global Payments by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,614,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $180,925,000 after purchasing an additional 72,992 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $98.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $90.99 and a 1-year high of $136.36. The company has a market capitalization of $24.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.88.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Research analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price objective (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Stephens downgraded shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. One 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

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.