Boston Partners Sells 8,795 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Boston Partners lessened its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 752,353 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8,795 shares during the period. Boston Partners’ holdings in Global Payments were worth $84,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Global Payments by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $330,516,000 after buying an additional 349,457 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Global Payments by 65.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $203,047,000 after buying an additional 785,539 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,313 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Global Payments by 106.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 50,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,682,000 after purchasing an additional 26,104 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Global Payments by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,614,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $180,925,000 after purchasing an additional 72,992 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN stock opened at $98.09 on Thursday. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $90.99 and a 1-year high of $136.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $105.10 and its 200 day moving average is $107.88. The company has a market cap of $24.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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. Research analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays reduced their target price on Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stephens lowered Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Global Payments has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.33.

About Global Payments

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.