Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Short Interest Update

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,920,000 shares, an increase of 10.0% from the October 31st total of 6,290,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,310,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Global Payments from $126.00 to $122.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. BNP Paribas upgraded Global Payments to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. BTIG Research downgraded Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.41.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stanley Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter. Stanley Capital Management LLC now owns 125,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,146,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Global Payments by 65.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $203,047,000 after acquiring an additional 785,539 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Global Payments in the third quarter worth $562,000. Gradient Investments LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 20.6% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 172,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,723,000 after acquiring an additional 29,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Poplar Forest Capital LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments in the third quarter worth $13,184,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN traded down $1.26 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $116.99. 530,762 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,267,574. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $107.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.89. The company has a market cap of $29.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Global Payments has a 1 year low of $91.60 and a 1 year high of $141.77.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given 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 0.85%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.83%.

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.