Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Invests $476,000 in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,241 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $476,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GPN. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 94.4% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 177.5% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew 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 valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the business’s 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Stephens lowered shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE:GPN opened at $103.83 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $109.74 and a 200-day moving average of $109.00. The company has a market capitalization of $25.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.60 and a 52 week high of $140.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

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.