Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Has $527,000 Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Global Payments by 54.4% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 707 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 177.5% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $613,000 after buying an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GPN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price target (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.76.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:GPN opened at $105.67 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $110.97 and its 200-day moving average is $108.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.60 and a 52 week high of $141.77. The firm has a market cap of $26.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted 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). Global Payments had a net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 11.94%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Equities analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.