Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd Reduces Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 13.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 92,827 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 14,172 shares during the quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $8,976,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 34,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 7,369 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Global Payments by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,656 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Global Payments by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 22,795 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,895,000 after acquiring an additional 904 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 14,978 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 3,294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 13,893 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,764,000 after purchasing an additional 1,331 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $124.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $147.00 target price on shares of Global Payments in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.59.

Global Payments Stock Down 2.0 %

GPN stock opened at $110.69 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.96, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.03. Global Payments had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 11.93%. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.84%.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In related news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $166,305.23. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,087.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

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.