D.A. Davidson & CO. Reduces Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lowered its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 744 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $821,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 52,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Global Payments by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 11,525 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,301,000 after acquiring an additional 1,807 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Global Payments by 54.4% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 707 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in Global Payments by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. Finally, Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. bought a new position in Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth approximately $204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was acquired 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $103.83 on Tuesday. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $140.38. The company has a market cap of $25.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $109.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.00. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on GPN shares. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased 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. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

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.