C WorldWide Group Holding A S Lowers Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

C WorldWide Group Holding A S cut its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 75.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 97,909 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 305,532 shares during the quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $10,972,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 177.5% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 94.4% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 517 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price target (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $103.19 on Monday. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $140.38. The company’s 50 day moving average is $109.94 and its 200 day moving average is $109.00. 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 company has a market cap of $25.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01.

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). The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 16.18%.

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.