Creative Planning Has $2.66 Million Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Creative Planning lifted its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 25,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,959 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $2,662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 194.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,423,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $621,149,000 after purchasing an additional 4,240,388 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Global Payments by 188.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $109,857,000 after purchasing an additional 755,898 shares during the period. Natixis boosted its stake in Global Payments by 830.2% during the first quarter. Natixis now owns 589,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $78,795,000 after buying an additional 526,143 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings in Global Payments by 267.0% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 677,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,602,000 after buying an additional 493,164 shares during the period. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Global Payments by 316.7% during the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 609,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $58,981,000 after purchasing an additional 463,568 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Global Payments from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $147.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Global Payments from $158.00 to $143.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, William Blair lowered shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.65.

Global Payments Price Performance

GPN opened at $99.13 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $105.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.98. 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 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced 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. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 14.26%. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.48 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 18.32%.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

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.