Coho Partners Ltd. Cuts Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Coho Partners Ltd. decreased its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 17.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. 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 investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Coho Partners Ltd. owned approximately 0.22% of Global Payments worth $63,421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Consolidated Planning Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at about $205,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 106.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 50,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,682,000 after purchasing an additional 26,104 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 84,878 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,511,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. Edmp Inc. grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Edmp Inc. now owns 8,775 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $983,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 4,336 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $486,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $135.71.

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE GPN opened at $104.12 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $111.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $26.50 billion, a PE ratio of 19.61, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.60 and a 1 year high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 11.94%. On average, analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.96%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

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.