Principal Securities Inc. Acquires 206 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 8.2% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 25,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,662,000 after acquiring an additional 1,959 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 40.6% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,655 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust bought a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth about $200,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 7,624.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 102,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,458,000 after buying an additional 100,791 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

GPN opened at $103.19 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $25.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $140.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.00.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GPN shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stephens cut Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. One research 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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.