Atom Investors LP Invests $1.68 Million in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Atom Investors LP acquired a new position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 16,370 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,677,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cromwell Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 59.6% during the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 134.4% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 511 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GPN. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. BNP Paribas upgraded Global Payments to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. B. Riley dropped their target price on Global Payments from $204.00 to $194.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Global Payments from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $137.41.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $118.20. 306,674 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,270,637. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $106.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.08 billion, a PE ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.00. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.60 and a 1-year high of $141.77.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given 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 0.85%. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.