Bleakley Financial Group LLC Has $360,000 Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,833 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 189 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $360,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. Waverly Advisors LLC raised its position in Global Payments by 60.5% in the 3rd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 19,593 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 7,387 shares during the last quarter. AFS Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth approximately $202,000. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in Global Payments by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 19,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,479,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Investments LLC bought a new position in Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth approximately $774,000. Finally, Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. raised its position in Global Payments by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 99,276 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,455,000 after purchasing an additional 12,560 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Global Payments stock opened at $123.74 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $131.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.11. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $95.12 and a 52-week high of $141.77. The firm has a market cap of $31.56 billion, a PE ratio of 32.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.01. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 10.22%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. Global Payments’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is 26.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GPN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $137.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $152.31.

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.