Coho Partners Ltd. Has $63.42 Million Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Coho Partners Ltd. lowered its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 17.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 565,957 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 115,978 shares during the period. Global Payments comprises 2.9% of Coho Partners Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Coho Partners Ltd. owned 0.22% of Global Payments worth $63,421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 785,539 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 1,559.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 548,833 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $61,502,000 after acquiring an additional 515,763 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 22.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the third quarter worth $47,113,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Global Payments by 925.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 417,832 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $42,794,000 after purchasing an additional 377,087 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GPN shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Global Payments from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $134.33.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPN traded up $1.37 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $107.00. 2,708,297 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,729,932. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.60 and a 52 week high of $140.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.23 billion, a PE ratio of 20.15, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50 day moving average is $110.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.70.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11 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 paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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.