Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Cuts Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lowered its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 35.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GPN. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 24,953 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,796,000 after buying an additional 3,892 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,248 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,941,000 after acquiring an additional 3,240 shares in the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $3,875,000. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth about $254,000. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,145 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $689,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GPN traded down $0.22 on Tuesday, hitting $82.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 680,864 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,817,066. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $86.53 and a 200-day moving average of $102.28. The company has a market capitalization of $20.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.96. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.93 and a 12-month high of $120.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen cut Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Global Payments from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Barclays reduced their price target 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. Finally, Cowen lowered Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $112.09.

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.