Short Interest in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Grows By 10.0%

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) saw a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,920,000 shares, a growth of 10.0% from the October 31st total of 6,290,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,310,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days. Currently, 2.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on GPN. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Global Payments from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Global Payments from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. William Blair lowered shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $147.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.41.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $564,437,000 after buying an additional 83,481 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at approximately $253,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Global Payments by 0.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,760,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 24.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 44,394 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,547,000 after purchasing an additional 8,677 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Payments Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of GPN stock traded down $1.33 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $116.92. The company had a trading volume of 499,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,267,493. The company’s fifty day moving average is $107.01 and its 200 day moving average is $103.89. Global Payments has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.75 billion, a PE ratio of 22.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.00.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

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.