Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes $5.94 Million Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 53,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,942,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Global Payments by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 79,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,961,000 after acquiring an additional 13,393 shares in the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 101,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 48,037 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 101.1% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 50,653 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,676,000 after buying an additional 25,461 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of GPN opened at $102.80 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $140.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $108.87 and its 200-day moving average is $108.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.45 billion, a PE ratio of 16.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. Equities research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens downgraded Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

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.