Short Interest in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Drops By 5.3%

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,290,000 shares, a decrease of 5.3% from the October 15th total of 6,640,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,280,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Approximately 2.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GPN. Cromwell Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter worth $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the first quarter valued at $31,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the first quarter valued at $32,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $116.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $105.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $29.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97. Global Payments has a one year low of $91.60 and a one year high of $141.77.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $145.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $126.00 to $122.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, BTIG Research cut Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $136.50.

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.