Kendall Capital Management Decreases Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Kendall Capital Management lessened its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,108 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 115 shares during the period. Kendall Capital Management’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 94.4% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GPN shares. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 price target (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Global Payments has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Global Payments stock opened at $100.79 on Monday. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $140.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $107.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.72. The firm has a market cap of $24.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released 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). The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

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.