HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 6,533 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 22.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,294 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,533 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $4,067,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 177.5% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 94.4% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens downgraded shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America dropped their price objective 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. Citigroup dropped their price objective 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. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Global Payments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

Global Payments Price Performance

GPN opened at $97.30 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $90.99 and a 52-week high of $136.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.92 billion, a PE ratio of 15.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $104.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.81.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its earnings results 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). Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

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.