Value Holdings Management CO. LLC Sells 11,500 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Value Holdings Management CO. LLC lowered its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 258,912 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,500 shares during the quarter. Global Payments makes up about 5.1% of Value Holdings Management CO. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Value Holdings Management CO. LLC owned 0.10% of Global Payments worth $29,014,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. Stanley Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 18.9% in the second quarter. Stanley Capital Management LLC now owns 125,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,146,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $330,516,000 after acquiring an additional 349,457 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 65.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $203,047,000 after acquiring an additional 785,539 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 3rd quarter valued at about $562,000. Finally, Poplar Forest Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at about $13,184,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GPN. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $135.71.

Global Payments Price Performance

GPN stock traded down $0.69 during trading on Friday, hitting $108.41. The stock had a trading volume of 2,574,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,141,367. The stock has a market cap of $27.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.60 and a 1-year high of $141.77. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $114.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.99.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

Insider Activity

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 bought at an average cost of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

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.