Parnassus Investments LLC Trims Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Parnassus Investments LLC cut its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 16.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,098,035 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 212,828 shares during the quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC owned about 0.43% of Global Payments worth $123,046,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,298,846 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $929,969,000 after buying an additional 1,659,984 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Global Payments by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,445 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $605,078,000 after acquiring an additional 31,934 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Global Payments by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $564,437,000 after acquiring an additional 83,481 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Global Payments by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $330,516,000 after purchasing an additional 349,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays dropped their target price on Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $134.33.

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE:GPN traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $95.78. 3,878,918 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,078,974. The company has a market cap of $23.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $105.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.06. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $90.99 and a 52-week high of $136.36. 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 (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

Global Payments Company 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.