Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Purchased by Covestor Ltd

Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 116.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,926 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $197,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GPN. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 0.6% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 118,183 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,104,000 after acquiring an additional 655 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in Global Payments by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,850 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 711 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 84,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,660,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Verity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter worth about $246,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE GPN opened at $110.88 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $104.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.97. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Global Payments has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.50.

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.