Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Sells 3,275 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. reduced its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,275 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $6,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Global Payments by 65.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $203,047,000 after purchasing an additional 785,539 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 1,559.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 548,833 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,502,000 after buying an additional 515,763 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $271,090,000 after buying an additional 490,411 shares during the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $47,113,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 925.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 417,832 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,794,000 after buying an additional 377,087 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GPN. Bank of America dropped their price target on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays decreased their price target on Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Stephens lowered 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.33.

Global Payments Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $105.51 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.07, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.60 and a 12-month high of $140.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.18%.

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.