LPL Financial LLC Increases Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 34.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 126,430 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,498 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $14,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,760,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc increased its position in Global Payments by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 28,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,164,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its stake in Global Payments by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 992 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GPN shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stephens cut Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America reduced their target price on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Global Payments has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.10.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE GPN opened at $98.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $24.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.91, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $103.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.99 and a 52 week high of $129.35.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.18%.

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.