International Assets Investment Management LLC Acquires Shares of 21,844 Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 21,844 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,774,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GPN. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in Global Payments by 77.7% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 407 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on GPN. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $158.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their target price on Global Payments from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Global Payments from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In other news, VP Andrea M. Carter sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.34, for a total value of $367,422.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,806,770.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of Global Payments stock opened at $109.17 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $125.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.62. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $95.12 and a 52-week high of $141.77. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $27.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.97.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.01. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.96 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.84%.

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.