Stonegate Investment Group LLC Trims Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC decreased its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,161 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,673 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $3,576,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GPN. TIAA Trust National Association bought a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth $215,000. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 19,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,479,000 after buying an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth $774,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 17,722 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,251,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 3,068 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Performance

GPN stock traded down $1.79 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $128.36. 1,700,376 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,368,484. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $133.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $32.74 billion, a PE ratio of 33.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.96. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $95.12 and a 1 year high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 10.22%. Global Payments’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp increased their price target on Global Payments from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. TheStreet raised Global Payments from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $138.00 to $137.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Global Payments from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Global Payments from $154.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.92.

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.