Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Raises Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 29.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 526 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $67,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its position in Global Payments by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 564 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC raised its position in Global Payments by 60.5% during the 3rd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 19,593 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 7,387 shares during the last quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH bought a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,815,000. AFS Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Finally, Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in Global Payments by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 19,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,479,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Performance

GPN stock opened at $124.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $31.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.96. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $95.12 and a 1 year high of $141.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $129.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.58.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 10.22%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on GPN shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Wedbush upped their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. TheStreet raised Global Payments from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Global Payments from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Global Payments from $138.00 to $137.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.