Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Reduces Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC decreased its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 97 shares during the quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GPN. Cromwell Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in Global Payments in the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on GPN. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Global Payments from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $112.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays increased their price objective 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. Finally, William Blair downgraded shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Global Payments has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $135.71.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased 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 directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE GPN opened at $108.60 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $27.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.45, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $113.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.30. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.60 and a 1 year high of $141.77.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

About Global Payments

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.