Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Sold by Caprock Group LLC

Caprock Group LLC decreased its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 17.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,065 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 430 shares during the quarter. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GPN. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,136 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,942 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,288,788 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $176,366,000 after purchasing an additional 48,605 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 259.7% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 17,285 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,377,000 after purchasing an additional 12,479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 1st quarter worth $766,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of Global Payments stock opened at $130.15 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. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $95.12 and a twelve month high of $141.77. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $133.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.71. The firm has a market cap of $33.20 billion, a PE ratio of 34.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 26.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on GPN shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Global Payments from $138.00 to $137.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com cut Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. B. Riley lifted their price target on Global Payments from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Global Payments from $154.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on Global Payments from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.92.

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.