LSV Asset Management Sells 27,780 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

LSV Asset Management trimmed its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 404,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 27,780 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $51,333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GPN. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 40.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,346,779 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,525,000 after purchasing an additional 2,703,434 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 338.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,288,108 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $379,416,000 after buying an additional 2,537,941 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter valued at about $197,875,000. Boston Partners lifted its position in Global Payments by 40.5% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,142,771 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $591,613,000 after acquiring an additional 1,481,714 shares during the period. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Global Payments by 119.0% during the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,085,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $125,287,000 after acquiring an additional 590,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN traded up $0.83 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $111.37. 3,191,218 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,029,470. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $95.12 and a 52-week high of $141.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $28.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $127.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.69.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.01. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 13.40%. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is 19.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. B. Riley lifted their price objective on Global Payments from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush boosted their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $160.00 to $152.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $158.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.00.

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.