Quadrature Capital Ltd Invests $1.24 Million in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 9,276 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,240,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Global Payments by 54.5% in the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. lifted its position in Global Payments by 154.7% during the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 354 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its stake in Global Payments by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 453 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPN traded up $2.45 during trading on Friday, reaching $101.19. The stock had a trading volume of 1,778,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,989,694. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $98.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $117.47. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.60 and a 1-year high of $141.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $25.83 billion, a PE ratio of 20.08, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.98.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.17 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 19.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on GPN shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $152.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Andrea M. Carter sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.34, for a total value of $367,422.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,209 shares in the company, valued at $2,806,770.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

About Global Payments

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.