Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Stake Decreased by C Partners Holding GmbH

C Partners Holding GmbH lowered its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 376,135 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 10,563 shares during the quarter. Global Payments makes up approximately 10.5% of C Partners Holding GmbH's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. C Partners Holding GmbH owned 0.15% of Global Payments worth $42,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 179,195 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 25.0% during the fourth 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 5.1% in the fourth 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. increased its holdings in Global Payments by 1.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $564,437,000 after purchasing an additional 83,481 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth about $345,823,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Payments Stock Up 1.1 %

GPN stock traded up $0.90 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $80.47. 2,434,197 shares of the company 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 P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.96. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.93 and a fifty-two week high of $120.00. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $86.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $102.37. 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 (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. Global Payments's revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Global Payments's payout ratio is currently 16.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Global Payments from $145.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Stephens lowered shares of Global Payments from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $112.09.

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.