Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Takes Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 4,241 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $476,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 925.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 417,832 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,794,000 after purchasing an additional 377,087 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 8,909 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $998,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,386 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,388,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 52,062 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,834,000 after purchasing an additional 7,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 5,404 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $606,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GPN shares. Stephens lowered shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $135.71.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $110.38 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $91.60 and a one year high of $141.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $113.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.09 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.00.

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.