Welch Group LLC Has $561,000 Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Welch Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,058 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 231 shares during the quarter. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Global Payments in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 59.6% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 383 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at $50,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GPN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on Global Payments from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 price objective (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $135.71.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $110.62 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.60 and a 12-month high of $141.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $112.82 and its 200-day moving average is $108.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

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.