Argyle Capital Management LLC Acquires Shares of 8,537 Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Argyle Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,537 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $957,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in Global Payments by 94.4% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 517 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Payments Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $103.19 on Friday. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $91.60 and a one year high of $140.38. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $109.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

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

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 16.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on GPN shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens downgraded shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

Global Payments 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.