Venturi Wealth Management LLC Raises Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 455.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,958 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,425 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Global Payments by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 52,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,886,000 after acquiring an additional 1,679 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 11,525 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 1,807 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 54.4% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 707 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. bought a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth about $204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

GPN stock opened at $105.65 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.16 billion, a PE ratio of 17.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $91.60 and a one year high of $140.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.75.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted 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). The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. On average, analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 12.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 16.18%.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Stephens downgraded Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.