Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 5,948 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,070 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,948 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $3,387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments in the 1st quarter worth approximately $203,000. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Global Payments during the 1st quarter worth approximately $202,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in Global Payments by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 28,253 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,776,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in Global Payments by 16.5% in the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,827 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Global Payments by 42.9% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 34,746 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,644,000 after buying an additional 10,423 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on GPN shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. Stephens decreased their target price on Global Payments from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets cut 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 note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $166,305.23. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $103.37 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $26.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $141.77. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.37.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 11.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.48 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is 19.84%.

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.