Brighton Jones LLC Takes Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 6,466 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $725,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 64.5% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 3,691 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. grew its position in Global Payments by 230.3% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 31,265 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,821,000 after buying an additional 21,800 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments in the second quarter worth approximately $1,837,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 91.4% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 53,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,135,000 after acquiring an additional 25,365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scientech Research LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 2nd quarter worth $648,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Performance

GPN stock opened at $108.92 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $113.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.50. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $141.77. The company has a market capitalization of $27.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GPN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 target price (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Global Payments from $156.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Stephens lowered shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $135.71.

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.