Savant Capital LLC Increases Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Savant Capital LLC grew its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 53,404 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 846 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $5,984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 307,436 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,451,000 after purchasing an additional 31,436 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 113.7% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 11,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 5,866 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,454 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,852,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 327.1% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 26,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,927,000 after acquiring an additional 20,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth about $216,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.1 %

Global Payments stock opened at $109.53 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $112.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on GPN shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $135.71.

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.