Signaturefd LLC Sells 418 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Signaturefd LLC lessened its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,740 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 418 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. bought a new position in Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Global Payments by 177.5% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in Global Payments by 94.4% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Stephens cut shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays cut their price target 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, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Global Payments has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

Global Payments Price Performance

GPN opened at $97.30 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $104.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.99 and a 52 week high of $136.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.92 billion, a PE ratio of 15.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. 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.