Stonegate Investment Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 25,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 208 shares during the quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $2,904,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GPN. Cromwell Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in Global Payments by 59.6% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 383 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in Global Payments by 134.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 511 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on GPN. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Global Payments from $156.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Stephens cut Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $135.71.

Global Payments Stock Up 1.6 %

GPN stock opened at $110.79 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $141.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.19 billion, a PE ratio of 20.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.67.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

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.