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

Kendall Capital Management decreased its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. 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.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Global Payments by 65.6% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Global Payments by 1,559.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 548,833 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $61,502,000 after purchasing an additional 515,763 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Global Payments by 22.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $271,090,000 after purchasing an additional 490,411 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,700,000. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the third quarter worth approximately $47,113,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.6 %

Global Payments stock opened at $100.79 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $107.84 and its 200-day moving average is $108.72. 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 1 year low of $91.60 and a 1 year high of $140.38. The company has a market cap of $24.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company 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 $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 0.99%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on GPN. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America dropped 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. Stephens lowered shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. 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 research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

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.