Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Sold by Lake Street Advisors Group LLC

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,504 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 268 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GPN. Stanley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Global Payments by 18.9% in the second quarter. Stanley Capital Management LLC now owns 125,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,146,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 267,483 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,775,000 after acquiring an additional 29,289 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its stake in Global Payments by 8.8% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 302,364 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,414,000 after purchasing an additional 24,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC lifted its stake in Global Payments by 20.6% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 172,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,723,000 after purchasing an additional 29,503 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $164.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stephens cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Global Payments from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Global Payments from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, B. Riley reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $204.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.65.

Global Payments Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $99.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.16, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.98. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.60 and a 1-year high of $141.77. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $105.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.02.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 14.26%. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $166,305.23. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,087.63. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments 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.