Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. Increases Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. $GPN

Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 50.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 89,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,000 shares during the quarter. Global Payments makes up 0.8% of Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $7,461,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $273,844,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Global Payments by 480.7% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,074,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $86,017,000 after acquiring an additional 889,590 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 99.5% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,124,558 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $89,820,000 after acquiring an additional 560,936 shares during the last quarter. Natixis raised its position in Global Payments by 205.6% in the second quarter. Natixis now owns 778,204 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $62,287,000 after purchasing an additional 523,555 shares during the period. Finally, Glenview Capital Management LLC raised its position in Global Payments by 13.8% in the second quarter. Glenview Capital Management LLC now owns 4,316,892 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $345,524,000 after purchasing an additional 523,209 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Global Payments from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Citigroup upgraded Global Payments to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Global Payments from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.59.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In related news, insider David Lawrence Green sold 11,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.99, for a total transaction of $927,884.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 68,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,446,999.04. This represents a 14.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 10,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $81.42 per share, for a total transaction of $846,116.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 59,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,828,450.26. The trade was a 21.25% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Trading Down 4.5%

GPN opened at $68.94 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $76.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.93 and a 12 month high of $108.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.68, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.76.

Global Payments Company 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.