Bridgewater Associates LP Decreases Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Bridgewater Associates LP reduced its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 473,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 22,473 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $48,497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GPN. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter worth $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Global Payments in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their target price on Global Payments from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $112.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One research 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, Global Payments has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $136.57.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of Global Payments stock opened at $117.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50-day moving average of $106.12 and a 200 day moving average of $103.56. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $141.77.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

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.