7,686 Shares in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Purchased by Allstate Corp

Allstate Corp bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 7,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $861,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Global Payments by 177.5% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut their price target on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 target price (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lowered 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.10.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN stock opened at $98.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.99 and a 12-month high of $133.63. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $103.51 and a 200-day moving average of $107.25.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.18%.

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.