Montag & Caldwell LLC Has $902,000 Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Montag & Caldwell LLC grew its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,051 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 557 shares during the quarter. Montag & Caldwell LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $902,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Global Payments by 177.5% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in Global Payments by 374.2% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 569 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price target (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Global Payments from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Stephens cut Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.52.

Global Payments Price Performance

Global Payments stock opened at $85.02 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $98.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97. 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 52-week low of $77.83 and a 52-week high of $127.66.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 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 company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

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.