Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Short Interest Up 10.0% in November

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,920,000 shares, an increase of 10.0% from the October 31st total of 6,290,000 shares. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,310,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GPN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $164.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. William Blair downgraded Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $147.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.41.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 1.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $564,437,000 after purchasing an additional 83,481 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the third quarter valued at $253,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position 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 worth $2,760,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 44,394 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,547,000 after buying an additional 8,677 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Payments Price Performance

GPN traded down $0.83 during trading on Monday, hitting $118.13. 2,602,623 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,279,232. Global Payments has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $141.77. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $106.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $30.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.97.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.83%.

Global Payments Company 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.