Montag A & Associates Inc. Has $2.16 Million Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Montag A & Associates Inc. decreased its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 40.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,160 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 10,890 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Global Payments were worth $2,160,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. grew its position in Global Payments by 54.5% in the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. grew its position in Global Payments by 154.7% in the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 354 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 34,922 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 7,369 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $128.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $182.00 to $150.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $172.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $145.32.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GPN traded up $2.05 during trading on Monday, hitting $99.50. The company had a trading volume of 2,182,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,330,141. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $119.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $141.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.98.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.17 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 13.40%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Global Payments's payout ratio is 19.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Andrea M. Carter sold 3,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.34, for a total transaction of $367,422.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,806,770.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.