Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 2.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 299,137 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,078 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Global Payments worth $30,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GPN. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position 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 buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
GPN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. William Blair lowered Global Payments from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Global Payments in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. BNP Paribas raised shares of Global Payments to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $138.55.
View Our Latest Report on GPN
Global Payments Price Performance
Shares of NYSE:GPN traded up $1.17 on Wednesday, reaching $112.98. 439,199 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,249,332. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.75 billion, a PE ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company's 50 day moving average is $111.45 and its 200-day moving average is $105.25. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77.
Global Payments Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders 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 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is 18.83%.
Insider Activity at Global Payments
In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly 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 transaction 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 corporate insiders.
About Global Payments
(
Free Report)
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.
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