Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Raises Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,288 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the third quarter worth $50,000. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 8.2% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 25,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,662,000 after buying an additional 1,959 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 3.9% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 40,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,128,000 after buying an additional 1,496 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 14.7% in the third quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,367 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. Finally, McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 2.0% in the third quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 51,987 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,325,000 after buying an additional 1,039 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

Global Payments stock opened at $108.97 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.55. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.60 and a 52 week high of $141.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $27.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.52, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPN has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Global Payments from $156.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens lowered 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 research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $135.71.

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.