Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Trims Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC decreased its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 22.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,195 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,863 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in Global Payments were worth $1,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,995,107 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,800,952,000 after acquiring an additional 179,195 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,298,846 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $929,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659,984 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Global Payments by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,230,322 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $696,362,000 after buying an additional 301,877 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Global Payments by 1.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $564,437,000 after buying an additional 83,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth $345,823,000. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $71.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $17.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.55, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.93 and a 12-month high of $127.66.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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 of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Global Payments's payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Global Payments from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $105.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Stephens lowered shares of Global Payments from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their target price for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $117.36.

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.

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