Swedbank AB Raises Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,496 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $4,128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 1.2% in 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 buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its stake in Global Payments by 27.2% in the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 543 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 8,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $846,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 11,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,121,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Global Payments by 59.6% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $119.36 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $30.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.48, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $106.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.67. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $141.77.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on GPN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. B. Riley cut their price objective on Global Payments from $204.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. BNP Paribas upgraded Global Payments to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com lowered Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Stephens cut their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $136.57.

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.