Franklin Resources Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,050,499 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 449,230 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 1.98% of Global Payments worth $565,959,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,995,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,800,952,000 after acquiring an additional 179,195 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Global Payments by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,298,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $929,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659,984 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Global Payments by 0.5% in 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 during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at $345,823,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $330,516,000 after purchasing an additional 349,457 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of GPN stock opened at $98.09 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $90.99 and a 52-week high of $133.63. The business’s fifty day moving average is $103.51 and its 200 day moving average is $107.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is presently 16.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GPN shares. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price target (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Global Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.10.

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.