Silver Lake Advisory LLC Has $4.66 Million Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Silver Lake Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 81.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,683 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,418 shares during the quarter. Global Payments comprises 2.6% of Silver Lake Advisory LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Silver Lake Advisory LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $4,659,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in Global Payments by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $635,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its stake in Global Payments by 241.1% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 7,423 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $924,000 after acquiring an additional 5,247 shares in the last quarter. Beck Bode LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth about $1,522,000. Cozad Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 27,833 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,535,000 after purchasing an additional 6,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 138.5% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,323 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 14,125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

Global Payments stock traded up $0.86 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $109.92. 2,177,424 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,247,255. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $128.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.82. The stock has a market cap of $28.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.97. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $95.12 and a one year high of $141.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

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

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GPN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Global Payments from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. B. Riley lifted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $143.00 to $128.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. TheStreet raised Global Payments from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Global Payments from $158.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.85.

Global Payments 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.