Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Short Interest Update

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,100,000 shares, a decline of 10.8% from the January 15th total of 6,840,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,760,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GPN. Stephens cut shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 price target (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.33.

Global Payments Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of GPN traded up $1.37 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $107.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,708,297 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,729,932. The company’s 50-day moving average is $110.75 and its 200-day moving average is $108.70. Global Payments has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $140.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.15, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 13.61%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Global Payments will post 11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,440,000. BIP Alliance LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,306,000. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $409,000. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Global Payments by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,544 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,975,000 after acquiring an additional 1,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its position in Global Payments by 99.0% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 4,161 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $466,000 after acquiring an additional 2,070 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

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.