Marshall Wace LLP Invests $31.44 Million in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 325,122 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $31,439,000. Marshall Wace LLP owned about 0.13% of Global Payments at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stanley Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 18.9% in the 2nd quarter. Stanley Capital Management LLC now owns 125,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,146,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 2.7% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 24,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,353,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 64.5% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $911,000 after acquiring an additional 3,691 shares in the last quarter. Davis Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Global Payments by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter. Davis Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,300,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $125,710,000 after purchasing an additional 200,000 shares during the period. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Global Payments by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 7,646 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $739,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:GPN opened at $97.67 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $24.93 billion, a PE ratio of 19.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.61. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.03. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 14.26%. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. Global Payments’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Global Payments news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $166,305.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,087.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GPN shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $164.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Global Payments from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. BTIG Research lowered Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have given 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 target price of $141.36.

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.