Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 55,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,163,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GPN. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in Global Payments by 64.5% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $911,000 after purchasing an additional 3,691 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 91.4% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 53,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,135,000 after buying an additional 25,365 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the second quarter worth $479,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Global Payments by 35.7% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 28,962 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,801,000 after acquiring an additional 7,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in Global Payments by 134.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 511 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GPN. StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens cut Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $135.71.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $110.43 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $28.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $141.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $113.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.86.

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.