Millington Financial Advisors LLC Invests $1.28 Million in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Millington Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 10,110 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,284,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth approximately $239,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Global Payments by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $941,000 after buying an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Global Payments by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 526 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $402,000. Finally, North Star Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 232,529 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,531,000 after acquiring an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GPN. B. Riley boosted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Global Payments from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Global Payments from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on Global Payments from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $151.92.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of Global Payments stock traded up $2.72 on Tuesday, hitting $126.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,218,912 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,176,515. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $130.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.47. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $95.12 and a 52-week high of $141.77. The company has a market capitalization of $32.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.96.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.01. Global Payments had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.44%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.46%.

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.