Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. Buys New Shares in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. bought a new stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,824 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. Cromwell Holdings LLC bought a new position in Global Payments during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Global Payments during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Global Payments during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in Global Payments by 59.6% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 383 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in Global Payments during the third quarter worth about $50,000. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Trading Up 1.5 %

GPN opened at $105.67 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $141.77. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 11.94%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given 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 0.95%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 target price (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.76.

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.