Callahan Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Callahan Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 86,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,151 shares during the quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $8,839,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 1.2% during the third quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $841,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 11,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co grew its holdings in Global Payments by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 3,180 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $425,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 59.6% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 383 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 31.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 645 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $166,305.23. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,087.63. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GPN shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Global Payments in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on Global Payments from $145.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $147.00 target price on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, William Blair lowered Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $136.50.

Global Payments Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE:GPN opened at $107.37 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $104.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $103.75. The company has a market capitalization of $27.33 billion, a PE ratio of 20.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 13.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.48 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.05 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

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.