Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Sold by Capital City Trust Co. FL

Capital City Trust Co. FL lowered its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,665 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 787 shares during the quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $3,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of GPN. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Global Payments by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,638,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $679,952,000 after purchasing an additional 215,399 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Global Payments by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $605,078,000 after purchasing an additional 31,934 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Global Payments by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $564,437,000 after purchasing an additional 83,481 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Global Payments by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $330,516,000 after purchasing an additional 349,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Global Payments by 22.7% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens lowered Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays reduced their target price on Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Global Payments presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $103.19 on Friday. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $140.38. The stock has a market cap of $25.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.70, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $109.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its 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). Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 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 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 yield of 0.97%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 16.18%.

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.