Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Bought by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1,559.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 548,833 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 515,763 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $61,502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,760,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 28,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,164,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $841,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its stake in Global Payments by 27.2% during the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 543 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price objective (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Global Payments from $156.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $135.71.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:GPN opened at $109.11 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.00. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.60 and a 1 year high of $141.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $114.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.83%.

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.