Sanctuary Advisors LLC Buys 1,807 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 18.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,525 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,807 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $1,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,638,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $679,952,000 after purchasing an additional 215,399 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $605,078,000 after purchasing an additional 31,934 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $564,437,000 after purchasing an additional 83,481 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $330,516,000 after purchasing an additional 349,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $271,090,000 after purchasing an additional 490,411 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $103.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $25.62 billion, a PE ratio of 16.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $109.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.01. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $91.60 and a one year high of $140.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

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.