Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Purchased by Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 0.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,528 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $11,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in Global Payments in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Global Payments by 54.5% in the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, North Star Investment Management Corp. increased its holdings in Global Payments by 154.7% during the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 354 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $110.44 on Monday. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $141.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $28.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average of $103.96 and a 200-day moving average of $110.62.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 14.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $172.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Global Payments to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.96.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $166,305.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,087.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

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.