Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA Buys 7,666 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA increased its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,957 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,666 shares during the quarter. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $11,425,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Global Payments by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $203,047,000 after buying an additional 785,539 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Global Payments by 1,559.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 548,833 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,502,000 after buying an additional 515,763 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Global Payments by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $271,090,000 after buying an additional 490,411 shares in the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $47,113,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Global Payments by 925.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 417,832 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,794,000 after buying an additional 377,087 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of GPN stock opened at $105.51 on Friday. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.60 and a 1 year high of $140.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $109.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $26.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.07, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 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, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stephens lowered shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 target price (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

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.