Park Avenue Securities LLC Decreases Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Park Avenue Securities LLC cut its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 4.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,754 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 284 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $589,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth $7,781,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at about $225,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 101.6% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 52,204 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,630,000 after buying an additional 26,306 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 2.3% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 29,673 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,966,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 8.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,951 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays decreased their price target on Global Payments from $145.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $126.00 to $122.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $147.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $158.00 to $143.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $139.55.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $166,305.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,087.63. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $100.61 on Friday. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $141.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $105.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.25.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 14.26%. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.48 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.32%.

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.