Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Stock Position Raised by Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA

Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,174 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,990 shares during the period. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $8,404,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its stake in Global Payments by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 564 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 60.5% during the 3rd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 19,593 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,261,000 after buying an additional 7,387 shares during the period. Shaker Investments LLC OH bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth $1,815,000. AFS Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $202,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 138.5% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,323 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after buying an additional 14,125 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GPN shares. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $129.00 target price on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. TheStreet raised shares of Global Payments from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Global Payments from $163.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.00.

Global Payments Price Performance

GPN stock traded down $1.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $110.32. 870,129 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,262,249. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $28.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.97. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $95.12 and a 52-week high of $141.77. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $126.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.72.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.01. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. Global Payments’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.84%.

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.