Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Trims Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP cut its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 35.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,797 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,980 shares during the quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP's holdings in Global Payments were worth $1,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new position in Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. bought a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Global Payments by 177.5% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 374.2% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 569 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GPN shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research restated a "peer perform" rating on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Cowen lowered Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $112.09.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of Global Payments stock traded up $0.90 during trading on Friday, hitting $80.47. 2,434,197 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,426,104. The stock has a market cap of $19.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.93 and a 52 week high of $120.00. The firm's fifty day moving average is $86.87 and its 200-day moving average is $102.37.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.73 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.59 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Global Payments's payout ratio is 16.13%.

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.