Entropy Technologies LP Purchases New Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,483 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $562,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 1.2% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 27.2% during the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 543 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 11,588 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,121,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 3,180 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GPN. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price 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. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating and set a $147.00 target price on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $164.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. B. Riley cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $204.00 to $194.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Global Payments from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Global Payments has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $136.50.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of Global Payments stock traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $116.00. 1,780,744 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,294,866. The stock has a market cap of $29.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.85, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $105.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.46. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $141.77.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.83%.

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.