Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Buys New Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 800 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $90,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in Global Payments by 94.4% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Global Payments by 177.5% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of GPN stock opened at $97.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $90.99 and a 1 year high of $136.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $104.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.86 billion, a PE ratio of 15.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GPN shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price objective (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Global Payments currently 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.