8,537 Shares in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Bought by Argyle Capital Management LLC

Argyle Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 8,537 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $957,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,760,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc increased its stake in Global Payments by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 28,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,164,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its position in Global Payments by 4.1% during the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in Global Payments by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,068 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 27.2% in the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 543 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired 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 directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on GPN. Bank of America lowered their price target on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stephens lowered shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Global Payments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.33.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE:GPN opened at $103.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $140.38. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.91. The company has a market capitalization of $25.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). The firm 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

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

About Global Payments

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.