Tectonic Advisors LLC Grows Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Tectonic Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 19.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,568 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the first quarter worth about $32,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in Global Payments during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. grew its holdings in Global Payments by 154.7% during the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 354 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Global Payments by 59.6% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 383 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Global Payments stock opened at $99.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $25.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $105.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.02. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 14.26%. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. Global Payments’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 18.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GPN shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Global Payments from $126.00 to $122.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut 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 research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In other news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $166,305.23. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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.