Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Has $7.67 Million Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 165.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,420 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 42,599 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Global Payments were worth $7,667,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $330,516,000 after purchasing an additional 349,457 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 65.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $203,047,000 after purchasing an additional 785,539 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter worth approximately $562,000. Caprock Group LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,313 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 106.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 50,705 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,682,000 after purchasing an additional 26,104 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPN has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $122.00 price target (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $134.33.

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Global Payments Stock Down 0.3 %

GPN stock opened at $93.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $23.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.05, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.99 and a fifty-two week high of $140.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $106.81 and a 200-day moving average of $108.40.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

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.

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