PFG Investments LLC Invests $568,000 in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

PFG Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,246 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $568,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter worth $27,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 54.5% during the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $124.68. 2,745,872 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,160,878. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.86. The stock has a market cap of $31.80 billion, a PE ratio of 32.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.96. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $95.12 and a 12 month high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 10.22%. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.94 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPN has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp increased their target price on Global Payments from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Global Payments from $138.00 to $137.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $129.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $151.92.

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.