Sapient Capital LLC Acquires New Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,938 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $881,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Global Payments by 3.8% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,485 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 5,409 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $687,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 2.0% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,707 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,740 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,828,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, KB Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 2.9% in the third quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,069 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.8 %

Global Payments stock traded up $0.83 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $111.37. The stock had a trading volume of 3,191,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,029,470. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $127.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $124.82. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $95.12 and a twelve month high of $141.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $28.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.97.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.01. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.30 EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on GPN shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $158.00 to $150.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $182.00 to $150.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $160.00 to $152.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Global Payments has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $150.00.

About Global Payments

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.