Ieq Capital LLC Acquires 40,771 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 719.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 46,435 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,771 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $5,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,760,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 28,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,164,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,068 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 27.2% during the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 543 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $103.19 on Friday. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $140.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.82. The company has a market capitalization of $25.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. 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 report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

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.