Boston Partners Decreases Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Boston Partners decreased its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 752,353 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8,795 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned 0.30% of Global Payments worth $84,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Global Payments by 294.7% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 10,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,129,000 after buying an additional 7,523 shares during the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Global Payments by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,823 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $653,000 after buying an additional 669 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 234,940 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,327,000 after purchasing an additional 7,456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integras Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at about $312,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Trading Up 2.3 %

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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $24.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.88.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPN has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price target (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Global Payments has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

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.