Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. Takes $336,000 Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. purchased a new position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,277 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $336,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 59.6% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 383 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GPN shares. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $145.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $166,305.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $103.37 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $104.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.37. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $91.60 and a one year high of $141.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $26.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.98.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 14.26%. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.06 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is currently 19.84%.

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.