Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 55,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,163,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 65.6% in the 3rd 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. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at about $562,000. Poplar Forest Capital LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter valued at about $13,184,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 515,763 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GPN. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on Global Payments from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $135.71.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

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

Global Payments Price Performance

GPN opened at $110.43 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $113.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.86. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $141.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $28.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.00.

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.