Sentry Investment Management LLC Has $115,000 Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,023 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 167 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. LRI Investments LLC increased its position in Global Payments by 94.4% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 517 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in Global Payments by 177.5% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 27.2% during the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 543 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on GPN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Stephens downgraded shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $101.46 on Thursday. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $109.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.95. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.60 and a 1-year high of $140.38. The stock has a market cap of $25.12 billion, a PE ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 16.18%.

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.