Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Sells 21,600 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lessened its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 218,260 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 21,600 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.09% of Global Payments worth $24,458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,995,107 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,800,952,000 after purchasing an additional 179,195 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,298,846 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $929,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659,984 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,230,322 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $696,362,000 after purchasing an additional 301,877 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Global Payments by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $564,437,000 after acquiring an additional 83,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $345,823,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:GPN traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $76.57. The company had a trading volume of 1,089,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,425,615. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.93 and a 12 month high of $122.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $18.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.40, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.44.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. On average, analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. Global Payments's payout ratio is 16.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the subject of several recent research reports. KeyCorp cut their price target on Global Payments from $145.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Global Payments from $105.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $112.86.

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.