Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Invests $203,000 in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 1,521 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. raised its position in Global Payments by 54.5% during the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In other 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 owns 25,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,806,770.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Global Payments Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Global Payments stock opened at $97.09 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.27. The stock has a market cap of $24.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.98. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.60 and a 1-year high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.07. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 13.40%. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. Analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on GPN shares. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $160.00 to $157.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their price target on Global Payments from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Global Payments from $152.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $182.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.68.

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.