Geneva Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Key Points

• Geneva Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in Global Payments by 39.9%, selling 35,440 shares and ending up with 53,318 shares valued at $5.22 million.
• Analysts have reaffirmed a strong outlook for Global Payments, with the stock receiving a consensus rating of "Hold" and a target price of $111.65.
• Global Payments announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.3% with a payout ratio of 16.13%.

Geneva Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 39.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 53,318 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 35,440 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC's holdings in Global Payments were worth $5,221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at about $725,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 11,798 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,322,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Global Payments by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 377,735 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $42,329,000 after purchasing an additional 16,970 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 38.4% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,733 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $194,000 after buying an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $8,361,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research reissued a "peer perform" rating on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $111.65.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN traded up $7.27 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $85.68. 5,181,197 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,318,668. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.90 billion, a PE ratio of 13.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.17. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.93 and a fifty-two week high of $120.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.04. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 12.33%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.