Convergence Investment Partners LLC Takes $1.02 Million Position in Global Payments Inc. $GPN

Convergence Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 12,323 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,024,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GPN. Thomasville National Bank grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 17,848 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,483,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 53.4% in the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 382 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 23.4% in the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 802 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in Global Payments by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 51,177 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,252,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 5.1% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,320 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Global Payments from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. KeyCorp lowered shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $90.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.82.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other news, EVP David M. Sheffield sold 2,016 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total transaction of $164,122.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,175,397.58. This represents a 12.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Patricia A. Watson purchased 1,331 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $75.06 per share, with a total value of $99,904.86. Following the purchase, the director owned 2,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,984.06. The trade was a 100.83% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have bought 14,723 shares of company stock valued at $1,186,772 and have sold 18,080 shares valued at $1,439,350. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Global Payments stock opened at $72.02 on Tuesday. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.93 and a 12-month high of $112.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $17.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $77.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.34.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The business services provider reported $3.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.03. Global Payments had a net margin of 19.68% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.08 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Profile

Global Payments Inc (NYSE: GPN) is a worldwide provider of payment technology and software solutions that enables commerce for merchants, issuers and enterprises. The company develops and operates payment processing networks, point-of-sale systems and cloud-based software that facilitate electronic transactions across in-store, online and mobile channels. Its services span merchant acquiring, payment gateway services, omnichannel commerce platforms, and solutions for recurring and subscription billing.

Global Payments offers a range of products and services including integrated payment terminals and point-of-sale software, e-commerce and gateway technologies, fraud prevention and tokenization tools, and business analytics and reporting.