Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Acquires 188 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,253 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $813,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 94.4% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 517 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GPN shares. Bank of America cut their target price on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 target price (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $100.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $107.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.72. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $140.38.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

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.