Short Interest in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Decreases By 5.3%

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,290,000 shares, a decline of 5.3% from the October 15th total of 6,640,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,280,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Currently, 2.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GPN shares. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Global Payments to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $136.50.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $114.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97. Global Payments has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $141.77. The company has a 50 day moving average of $105.48 and a 200-day moving average of $103.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its position in Global Payments by 11.1% during the first quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 11,814 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,579,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the 1st quarter worth approximately $166,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Global Payments by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 888 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Global Payments by 311.4% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 10,502 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,404,000 after buying an additional 7,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC bought a new position in Global Payments during the 1st quarter worth $19,113,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.