Brown Financial Advisors Takes $1.13 Million Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Brown Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 11,666 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,128,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 28.2% in the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 14,978 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 3,294 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 415,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $52,751,000 after purchasing an additional 1,831 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 192,025 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,392,000 after purchasing an additional 1,863 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 3,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the period. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in Global Payments by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 95,555 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,135,000 after buying an additional 8,321 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Global Payments from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Global Payments from $145.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. B. Riley decreased their target price on Global Payments from $204.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Global Payments to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Global Payments presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Global Payments Price Performance

Global Payments stock opened at $100.43 on Wednesday. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $141.77. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.56. The company has a market cap of $25.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.98.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. Global Payments’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.07 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.84%.

Global Payments Company 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.