Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. Invests $38,000 in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 342 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $38,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 94.4% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 517 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 177.5% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Global Payments Price Performance

GPN opened at $102.80 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $108.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.97. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.60 and a 12-month high of $140.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.63, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Equities analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price target on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 price target (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Stephens cut Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

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.