Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Sold by Hartford Investment Management Co.

Hartford Investment Management Co. cut its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 15,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 304 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $1,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GPN. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 59.6% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 383 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was 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 represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stephens lowered shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Global Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $135.71.

Global Payments Trading Down 4.3 %

NYSE:GPN opened at $104.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.50 billion, a PE ratio of 19.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $141.77. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.56.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 13.61%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.83%.

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.