Mather Group LLC. Takes Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 935 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $119,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GPN. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,951 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its position in Global Payments by 2.3% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 29,673 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,966,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 101.6% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 52,204 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,630,000 after purchasing an additional 26,306 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth about $225,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,781,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on GPN. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Global Payments from $160.00 to $157.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Global Payments from $182.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Global Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $146.39.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $95.03 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $107.81 and its 200-day moving average is $122.39. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $91.60 and a one year high of $141.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.07. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.08 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.84%.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In related news, VP Andrea M. Carter sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.34, for a total transaction of $367,422.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,209 shares in the company, valued at $2,806,770.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

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.