Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Acquires 338 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GPN. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter worth about $47,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Price Performance

GPN opened at $127.47 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $32.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.58. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $95.12 and a 12-month high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.01. Global Payments had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.44%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.30 EPS. Global Payments’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GPN shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Global Payments from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.92.

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.