Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Makes New $142,000 Investment in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 1,391 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $142,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the 1st quarter worth approximately $87,000. First Financial Corp IN raised its stake in Global Payments by 39.1% in the 1st quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 505 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,494 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,873,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 12.0% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 31,732 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,241,000 after buying an additional 3,397 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Trading Down 2.3 %

GPN opened at $99.95 on Tuesday. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.60 and a 52 week high of $141.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.48. The firm has a market cap of $25.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.98.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 14.26%. Global Payments’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.48 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In other news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Stephens lowered their target price on Global Payments from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. TD Cowen cut their price target on Global Payments from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. William Blair lowered Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their target price on Global Payments from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.82.

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.