Brown Financial Advisors Trims Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Brown Financial Advisors reduced its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 659 shares during the period. Brown Financial Advisors’ holdings in Global Payments were worth $882,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GPN. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $330,516,000 after buying an additional 349,457 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Global Payments by 65.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $203,047,000 after acquiring an additional 785,539 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $562,000. Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,313 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 106.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 50,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,682,000 after purchasing an additional 26,104 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE:GPN opened at $103.83 on Tuesday. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.60 and a 12-month high of $140.38. The firm has a market cap of $25.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50-day moving average is $109.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for 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%. Research analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GPN. Bank of America decreased their price target on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

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.