Cardinal Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Cardinal Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 92,251 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8,085 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $10,338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 215,399 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 buying an additional 31,934 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position 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 worth $564,437,000 after buying an additional 83,481 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 13.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 349,457 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 22.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $271,090,000 after acquiring an additional 490,411 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $108.52 on Thursday. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.60 and a 1 year high of $141.77. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.40. The company has a market capitalization of $27.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.44, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the subject of several analyst reports. William Blair cut shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Global Payments from $126.00 to $122.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Global Payments from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $135.71.

Global Payments Company 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.