Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. Sells 115,668 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. decreased its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 37.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 191,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 115,668 shares during the quarter. Global Payments comprises approximately 1.0% of Coronation Fund Managers Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. owned about 0.08% of Global Payments worth $18,778,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth approximately $725,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Global Payments by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,273,000 after buying an additional 6,740 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Global Payments by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,960,022 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $219,640,000 after buying an additional 231,359 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its stake in Global Payments by 96.3% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 11,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,283,000 after buying an additional 5,617 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,700,000. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of Global Payments stock opened at $80.96 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $79.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.64. The company has a market capitalization of $19.64 billion, a PE ratio of 14.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.93 and a 52 week high of $120.00.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.04. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.47% and a net margin of 15.07%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is 17.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Global Payments from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday. Williams Trading set a $75.00 target price on Global Payments in a report on Friday, April 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $93.00 target price (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Global Payments from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.21.

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.