Stonegate Investment Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $2,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 194.2% in the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,423,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $621,149,000 after buying an additional 4,240,388 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Global Payments by 10.9% in 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. Davis Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 18.2% in the second quarter. Davis Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,300,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $125,710,000 after purchasing an additional 200,000 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 188.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $109,857,000 after buying an additional 755,898 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $166,305.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,087.63. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GPN shares. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $126.00 to $122.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Global Payments from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Global Payments to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on Global Payments in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.70.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE GPN traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $101.25. The stock had a trading volume of 254,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,261,181. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $105.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.17. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.60 and a 52 week high of $141.77. The company has a market capitalization of $25.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. Global Payments had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 11.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. Global Payments’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.84%.

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.