Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Makes New $277,000 Investment in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,474 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $277,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 65.0% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 5,216 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 2,054 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 18,630 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,802,000 after purchasing an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 64.5% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 3,691 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Global Payments in the second quarter valued at about $31,439,000. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in Global Payments by 58.9% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 49,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,778,000 after purchasing an additional 18,324 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Payments Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $108.92 on Friday. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $141.77. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $113.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.40. The company has a market capitalization of $27.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.00.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price objective (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Global Payments in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Stephens cut Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Global Payments from $156.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $135.71.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

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.