Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Acquired by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 377,381 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,472 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.15% of Global Payments worth $50,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in Global Payments by 77.7% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 407 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $160.00 to $157.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $154.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Global Payments from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, B. Riley raised their price objective on Global Payments from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $150.00.

Global Payments Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:GPN traded up $0.83 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $111.37. The stock had a trading volume of 3,191,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,029,470. The company has a market cap of $28.43 billion, a PE ratio of 22.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.69. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $95.12 and a 1-year high of $141.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. Analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.94 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.84%.

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.

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