Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Bought by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,222 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $945,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GPN. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $841,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its position in Global Payments by 27.2% during the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 543 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in Global Payments by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 8,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Archford Capital Strategies LLC grew its stake in Global Payments by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 11,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co raised its holdings in Global Payments by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 3,180 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $425,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. B. Riley lowered their price objective on Global Payments from $204.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their price target on Global Payments from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Global Payments in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $126.00 to $122.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, William Blair lowered shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.50.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE:GPN opened at $116.00 on Friday. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.60 and a 1-year high of $141.77. The stock has a market cap of $29.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.85, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $105.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.32.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

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