Augustine Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Augustine Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 49,603 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 794 shares during the period. Global Payments comprises approximately 1.5% of Augustine Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Augustine Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $5,559,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter worth about $50,000. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Global Payments from $156.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 target price (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Stephens lowered shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $112.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $135.71.

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 dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $106.96 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.51. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. The company has a market capitalization of $27.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01.

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.