Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Holdings Cut by Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lessened its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 218,260 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 21,600 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned 0.09% of Global Payments worth $24,458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sage Capital Advisors llc lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 28,232 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,164,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 11.2% in 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 during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,685 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust raised its position in Global Payments by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,068 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,963 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,228,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Williams Trading set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Friday, April 18th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $112.86.

Global Payments Stock Performance

GPN traded up $2.36 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $76.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,008,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,431,853. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.85 billion, a PE ratio of 12.41, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.93 and a fifty-two week high of $126.06.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is 16.18%.

About Global Payments

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.