Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Sold by Leeward Investments LLC MA

Leeward Investments LLC MA reduced its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 108,981 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,745 shares during the quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $12,212,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 3.4% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,638,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $679,952,000 after buying an additional 215,399 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $605,078,000 after buying an additional 31,934 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Global Payments by 1.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $564,437,000 after buying an additional 83,481 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Global Payments by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $330,516,000 after buying an additional 349,457 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Global Payments by 22.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $271,090,000 after buying an additional 490,411 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPN has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 price target (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Stephens lowered shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Global Payments has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE:GPN opened at $103.19 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $25.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $140.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $109.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.93.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. Analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 16.18%.

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.