Pettee Investors Inc. Takes Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Pettee Investors Inc. acquired a new stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 12,632 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,416,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 177.5% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN stock opened at $100.79 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $24.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $91.60 and a one year high of $140.38.

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

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GPN. Citigroup cut their price objective on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stephens downgraded Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

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.