Ceera Investments LLC Buys Shares of 67,610 Global Payments Inc. $GPN

Ceera Investments LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 67,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,412,000. Global Payments makes up 1.7% of Ceera Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 546.6% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 375 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 53.4% in the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 382 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 1st quarter valued at $49,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Payments Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $77.68 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $18.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.93 and a 12-month high of $120.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $86.00 and its 200 day moving average is $81.68.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.47% and a net margin of 15.07%.Global Payments’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $172,000.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 30,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,641,318. The trade was a 6.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on GPN. KeyCorp lowered shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Mizuho upgraded Global Payments from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $114.00 in a report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Global Payments from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, B. Riley restated a “buy” rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.37.

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.