Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Has $3.79 Million Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. grew its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,282 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $3,790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GPN. BIP Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 11,787 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,497,000 after buying an additional 1,563 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,281 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $798,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Millington Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at $1,284,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $239,000. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $941,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:GPN traded down $2.84 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $124.63. 1,196,471 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,156,823. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $129.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.96. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $95.12 and a 12 month 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.44%. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. Analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Global Payments from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Wedbush boosted their target price on Global Payments from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. TheStreet upgraded Global Payments from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $151.92.

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.