Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Position Lessened by Investors Research Corp

Investors Research Corp reduced its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 16.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,704 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 750 shares during the quarter. Investors Research Corp’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 60.5% during the third quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 19,593 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,261,000 after buying an additional 7,387 shares during the period. Shaker Investments LLC OH acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at $1,815,000. AFS Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at about $202,000. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 19,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,479,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Finally, Redwood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth about $774,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on GPN shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $137.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Wedbush lifted their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $154.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Global Payments from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $152.31.

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE GPN opened at $123.12 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.41 billion, a PE ratio of 32.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.96. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $95.12 and a 12-month high of $141.77. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $131.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.16.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is 26.46%.

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.