Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 4,874 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 26.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,136 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,874 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $2,370,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Global Payments by 194.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,423,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $621,149,000 after acquiring an additional 4,240,388 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 65.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $203,047,000 after buying an additional 785,539 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 188.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $109,857,000 after acquiring an additional 755,898 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 316.7% during the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 609,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $58,981,000 after buying an additional 463,568 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 171.6% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 561,314 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,279,000 after purchasing an additional 354,648 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $118.96 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.76. The stock has a market cap of $30.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.40, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.97. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.60 and a 12-month high of $141.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. William Blair lowered Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Global Payments in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Global Payments from $164.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $136.57.

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.