Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Acquired by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 68,277 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,370 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $6,874,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Stanley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 18.9% in the second quarter. Stanley Capital Management LLC now owns 125,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,146,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 12.3% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 267,483 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,775,000 after purchasing an additional 29,289 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the first quarter worth $32,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 8.8% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 302,364 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,414,000 after purchasing an additional 24,415 shares during the period. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 20.6% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 172,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,723,000 after purchasing an additional 29,503 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Payments Trading Up 4.4 %

Shares of GPN stock opened at $103.37 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $26.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.37. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 14.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.48 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GPN. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Global Payments from $164.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. William Blair cut Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their price objective on Global Payments from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.52.

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.