US Bancorp DE Decreases Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

US Bancorp DE lessened its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,822 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $4,976,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,760,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 28,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,164,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 992 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in Global Payments by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,068 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GPN shares. Stephens cut shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.33.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE:GPN opened at $100.32 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $24.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $108.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.85. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.60 and a 12-month high of $140.38.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. Research analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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

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.