Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 937 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 20.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 937 shares during the quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $613,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,638,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $679,952,000 after acquiring an additional 215,399 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $605,078,000 after acquiring an additional 31,934 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Global Payments by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $564,437,000 after acquiring an additional 83,481 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Global Payments by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $330,516,000 after acquiring an additional 349,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Global Payments by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $271,090,000 after acquiring an additional 490,411 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPN has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America lowered their target price on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $135.76.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased 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 directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of GPN stock opened at $105.67 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $110.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.60. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $26.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 11.94%. Equities analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

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.