Geode Capital Management LLC Purchases 31,934 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,928,445 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 31,934 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.33% of Global Payments worth $605,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stanley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 18.9% in the second quarter. Stanley Capital Management LLC now owns 125,608 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $12,146,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Global Payments by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $203,047,000 after acquiring an additional 785,539 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at about $562,000. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 20.6% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 172,939 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $16,723,000 after purchasing an additional 29,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Poplar Forest Capital LLC bought a new position in Global Payments during the third quarter worth about $13,184,000. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of GPN traded down $1.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $114.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,156,033 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,263,353. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.60 and a 52 week high of $141.77. The stock has a market cap of $29.07 billion, a PE ratio of 21.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.00. The company's fifty day moving average price is $109.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

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 paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Global Payments from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $126.00 to $122.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.