Rhumbline Advisers Sells 6,229 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Rhumbline Advisers trimmed its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 460,841 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,229 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.18% of Global Payments worth $51,642,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Global Payments during the third quarter worth $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Global Payments during the third quarter worth $33,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Global Payments by 59.6% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 383 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments in the third quarter valued at $50,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $105.67 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $110.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.60 and a 1 year high of $141.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 11.94%. Analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPN has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Global Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.76.

Global Payments Company 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.