Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Short Interest Update

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,290,000 shares, a decline of 5.3% from the October 15th total of 6,640,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,280,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in Global Payments by 3.4% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,638,862 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $679,952,000 after purchasing an additional 215,399 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Global Payments by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,445 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $605,078,000 after purchasing an additional 31,934 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its position in Global Payments by 0.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,797,677 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $639,967,000 after purchasing an additional 12,196 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Global Payments by 22.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $271,090,000 after purchasing an additional 490,411 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Global Payments by 65.6% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 785,539 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of GPN stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Monday, hitting $116.06. 973,339 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,288,533. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $105.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.28. Global Payments has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $141.77.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Global Payments's payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas raised Global Payments to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Global Payments from $164.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stephens decreased their target price on Global Payments from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their target price on Global Payments from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $136.50.

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.