Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $226.52 Million Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 29.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,021,415 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 831,214 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $226,520,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GPN. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Global Payments by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $330,516,000 after acquiring an additional 349,457 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 65.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $203,047,000 after purchasing an additional 785,539 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Global Payments in the third quarter worth $562,000. Caprock Group LLC boosted its stake in Global Payments by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,313 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Global Payments by 106.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 50,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,682,000 after buying an additional 26,104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Down 3.3 %

NYSE GPN opened at $99.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.60 and a 52 week high of $140.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $108.60 and a 200-day moving average of $108.91.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. On average, 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 will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is presently 16.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stephens downgraded shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price target (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Bank of America lowered their price objective 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. Barclays cut their target price on Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.33.

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.