Citigroup Inc. Trims Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Citigroup Inc. cut its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 51.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 194,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 207,764 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $19,872,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 3.4% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,638,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $679,952,000 after buying an additional 215,399 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in Global Payments by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,797,677 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $639,967,000 after acquiring an additional 12,196 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $203,047,000 after acquiring an additional 785,539 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,957,914 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $189,307,000 after acquiring an additional 193,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 3.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,541,541 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $157,885,000 after purchasing an additional 44,296 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of Global Payments stock opened at $117.45 on Wednesday. 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 52 week low of $91.60 and a 52 week high of $141.77. The company has a market cap of $29.89 billion, a PE ratio of 22.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. William Blair downgraded Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their price objective 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, Seaport Res Ptn cut Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $136.57.

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.