Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Sold by Modera Wealth Management LLC

Modera Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 16.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 46,853 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,155 shares during the quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $5,250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 177.5% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 94.4% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on GPN. Citigroup dropped their target price on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stephens downgraded Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 target price (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays dropped 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 report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.33.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 can be accessed through this link. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Global Payments Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of Global Payments stock opened at $105.51 on Monday. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.60 and a 1 year high of $140.38. The company has a market cap of $26.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01. 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 has a 50-day moving average price of $109.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.01.

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

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.18%.

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.