Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Sold by Gotham Asset Management LLC

Gotham Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 46.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,020 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 7,865 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC's holdings in Global Payments were worth $1,011,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new stake in Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 177.5% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 449 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPN has been the topic of several research reports. KeyCorp raised their price target on Global Payments from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Global Payments from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. TD Cowen lowered Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $112.43.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN traded down $1.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $74.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,199,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,473,158. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $100.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.96. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.93 and a 1-year high of $120.00.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.73 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.20 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.59 EPS. 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. 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 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.13%.

Global Payments 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.