Sapient Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,938 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $881,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Power Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at $668,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 136.1% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,433 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $182,000 after acquiring an additional 826 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 911.4% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 18,559 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,357,000 after purchasing an additional 16,724 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 262,609 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,351,000 after purchasing an additional 14,610 shares during the period. Finally, Silver Lake Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Global Payments by 81.0% in the 4th quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC now owns 36,683 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,659,000 after purchasing an additional 16,418 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on GPN shares. StockNews.com lowered Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Global Payments from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $160.00 to $157.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $128.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.00.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of Global Payments stock traded up $0.83 during trading on Friday, reaching $111.37. 3,191,218 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,029,470. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.92. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $95.12 and a 1-year high of $141.77. The company has a market cap of $28.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $127.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.69.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.01. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 13.40%. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.84%.

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.