Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Sold by Moore Capital Management LP

Moore Capital Management LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 72.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 235,985 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 613,000 shares during the period. Moore Capital Management LP’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $26,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GPN. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 992 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in Global Payments by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,068 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,228,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 6,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GPN. Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $86.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Williams Trading set a $75.00 price objective on Global Payments in a research note on Friday, April 18th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.09.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $80.47 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $86.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $102.39. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.93 and a 1 year high of $120.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.79 billion, a PE ratio of 13.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.96.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.73 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 16.13%.

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.