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

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during 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. Approximately 2.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,280,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens cut their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $136.50.

Global Payments Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $116.00 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $105.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.28. Global Payments has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $141.77. 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 company has a market cap of $29.52 billion, a PE ratio of 21.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GPN. SYM FINANCIAL Corp boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $841,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 27.2% during the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 543 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 1.4% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 8,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $846,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Archford Capital Strategies LLC lifted its position in Global Payments by 1.2% during the second quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 11,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

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.