Coho Partners Ltd. Reduces Position in Global Payments Inc. $GPN

Key Points

• Coho Partners Ltd. reduced its stake in Global Payments Inc. by 20.5%, in the second quarter, leaving it with approximately 336,269 shares, making up about 2.0% of its holdings.
• Global Payments reported earnings per share of $3.10 for the last quarter, beating analysts' expectations by $0.04, while also seeing a 1.6% increase in year-over-year revenue.
• The company recently announced a $0.25 quarterly dividend, contributing to an annualized yield of 1.2%, with a current dividend payout ratio of 17.48%.

Coho Partners Ltd. cut its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 20.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 336,269 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 86,964 shares during the period. Global Payments makes up about 2.0% of Coho Partners Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Coho Partners Ltd. owned approximately 0.14% of Global Payments worth $26,915,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 53.4% in the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 382 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 546.6% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 375 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the first quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 4,866.7% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 447 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE:GPN opened at $83.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.63, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $86.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.01. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.93 and a fifty-two week high of $120.00.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.04. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 12.47%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.48%.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $172,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 30,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,641,318. This trade represents a 6.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GPN. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Mizuho raised shares of Global Payments from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $86.00 to $114.00 in a research note on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. TD Cowen lowered Global Payments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $103.75.

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.

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