BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Reduces Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lowered its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 13.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 42,591 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,822 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $4,362,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Stanley Capital Management LLC raised its position in Global Payments by 18.9% in the 2nd quarter. Stanley Capital Management LLC now owns 125,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,146,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 65.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $203,047,000 after buying an additional 785,539 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter worth about $562,000. Gradient Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 20.6% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 172,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,723,000 after purchasing an additional 29,503 shares during the period. Finally, Poplar Forest Capital LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth $13,184,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GPN shares. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Global Payments in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their price objective on Global Payments from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, B. Riley cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $204.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.41.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $118.13 on Tuesday. 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 $106.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.76. The company has a market capitalization of $30.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.97. 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 will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.83%.

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.