Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Acquires New Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp bought a new stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 2,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $253,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,760,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 4.1% during the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 1.2% in the third quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $841,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 27.2% in the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 543 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in Global Payments by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 8,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $846,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $113.99 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $110.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.68. 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 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $29.01 billion, a PE ratio of 21.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.00.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPN has been the subject of several recent research reports. William Blair cut Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Stephens lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Global Payments from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.41.

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.