Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Trims Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 133,547 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,871 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $14,965,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Consolidated Planning Corp bought a new stake in Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at $205,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Global Payments by 106.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 50,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,682,000 after buying an additional 26,104 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Global Payments by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 84,878 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,511,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the period. Edmp Inc. boosted its stake in Global Payments by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Edmp Inc. now owns 8,775 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $983,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Global Payments by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 4,336 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 567 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price objective (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Bank of America dropped their price target on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Global Payments from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $135.76.

Global Payments Stock Performance

GPN stock opened at $105.67 on Monday. The stock 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.60 and a 12-month high of $141.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.60.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 11.94%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

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.