Private Advisor Group LLC Has $422,000 Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Private Advisor Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 34.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,763 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,966 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GPN. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $330,516,000 after buying an additional 349,457 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 65.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $203,047,000 after buying an additional 785,539 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter worth about $562,000. Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,313 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 106.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 50,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,682,000 after buying an additional 26,104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $99.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $108.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.91. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $140.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.68 billion, a PE ratio of 16.13, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for 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%. Equities analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on GPN. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price objective (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.