Cannell & Spears LLC Has $2.28 Million Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Cannell & Spears LLC lowered its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 11.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,334 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,597 shares during the quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $2,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GPN. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 23,136 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,370,000 after acquiring an additional 4,874 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 4.4% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 3,892 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at approximately $323,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 17.0% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 11,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,128,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 388.7% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 54,692 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,602,000 after buying an additional 43,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

Global Payments stock opened at $98.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $90.99 and a one year high of $133.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $103.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.25.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued 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). Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GPN shares. Stephens cut Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 price objective (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.10.

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.