V Square Quantitative Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 10.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,282 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 258 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in Global Payments by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,760,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Sage Capital Advisors llc lifted its position in Global Payments by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 28,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,164,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp lifted its position in Global Payments by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in Global Payments by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,068 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its position in Global Payments by 27.2% during the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 543 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE:GPN opened at $105.67 on Monday. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $141.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $110.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $26.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 13.61%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. On average, analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 price objective (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Global Payments has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.76.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

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.