Investment House LLC Sells 48,038 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Investment House LLC reduced its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 39.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 73,046 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 48,038 shares during the period. Investment House LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $8,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Global Payments by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $330,516,000 after buying an additional 349,457 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Global Payments by 65.6% during the third 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 buying an additional 785,539 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC boosted its stake in Global Payments by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,313 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Global Payments by 106.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 50,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,682,000 after buying an additional 26,104 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Global Payments by 4.7% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 72,992 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $95.78 on Wednesday. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $90.99 and a 1 year high of $136.36. The company has a market cap of $23.55 billion, a PE ratio of 15.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $105.37 and its 200 day moving average is $107.95.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GPN shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Stephens lowered Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.33.

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.