Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Sells 77,621 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board decreased its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 22.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 260,611 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 77,621 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.10% of Global Payments worth $29,204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GPN. Sage Capital Advisors llc raised its stake in Global Payments by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 28,232 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,164,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings 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 worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,685 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $413,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in Global Payments by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,963 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,228,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.7 %

Global Payments stock traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $71.86. 4,298,394 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,382,913. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.67 billion, a PE ratio of 11.63, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97. 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 firm's 50 day simple moving average is $94.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.52. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.93 and a twelve month high of $127.66.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. Research analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on GPN shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Global Payments from $145.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Stephens downgraded shares of Global Payments from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, April 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $114.86.

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.