Venturi Wealth Management LLC Raises Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 455.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,958 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,425 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Global Payments were worth $331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 785,539 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Global Payments by 1,559.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 548,833 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $61,502,000 after buying an additional 515,763 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 22.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $271,090,000 after purchasing an additional 490,411 shares in the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter worth about $47,113,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Global Payments by 925.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 417,832 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $42,794,000 after acquiring an additional 377,087 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE GPN traded down $2.39 on Friday, hitting $103.19. 2,189,224 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,744,548. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $110.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.75. The company has a market cap of $25.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.60 and a 1-year high of $140.38.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. On average, equities analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GPN shares. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $134.33.

Global Payments Company 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.