River Road Asset Management LLC Grows Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

River Road Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 158.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 491,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 301,358 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $50,322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Archford Capital Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 1.2% in the second quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 11,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 4.5% in the first quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 3,180 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 59.6% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 383 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 31.6% during the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 645 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $166,305.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN stock opened at $105.15 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $104.50 and its 200 day moving average is $103.85. 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 firm has a market cap of $26.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.80, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.97. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.03. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 13.61%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors 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 0.95%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their price target on Global Payments from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $164.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Stephens decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Global Payments from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Global Payments from $145.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. One equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $136.50.

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.