Hartford Investment Management Co. Reduces Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lowered its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GPN. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 65.6% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 785,539 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 1,559.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 548,833 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,502,000 after purchasing an additional 515,763 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 22.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $271,090,000 after purchasing an additional 490,411 shares during the period. Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at about $47,113,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 925.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 417,832 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,794,000 after purchasing an additional 377,087 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $104.12 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $111.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.56. The stock has a market cap of $26.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. 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 (NYSE:GPN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 11.94%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11 earnings per share 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. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.83%.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GPN. Stephens lowered 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 report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 price objective (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. 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 note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $135.71.

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.