Berkeley Capital Partners LLC Raises Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Berkeley Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 94.4% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 177.5% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GPN. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 target price (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE:GPN opened at $98.09 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.99 and a fifty-two week high of $136.36. The stock has a market cap of $24.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $105.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.88.

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

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

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

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.