26,179 Shares in Global Payments Inc. $GPN Purchased by Independence Asset Advisors LLC

Independence Asset Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 26,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,095,000. Global Payments accounts for about 1.3% of Independence Asset Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 546.6% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 375 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the first quarter worth $37,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Global Payments in the first quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Global Payments by 4,866.7% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 447 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on GPN. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Global Payments from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Global Payments from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.75.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $172,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 30,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,641,318. This trade represents a 6.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE GPN opened at $85.40 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $86.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.79. The stock has a market cap of $20.72 billion, a PE ratio of 14.93, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.93 and a fifty-two week high of $120.00.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.47% and a net margin of 15.07%.Global Payments’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

About Global Payments

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.