Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Grows Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 15.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 835 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $830,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Global Payments by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,087,801 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $646,151,000 after buying an additional 132,635 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Global Payments by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,402,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $392,657,000 after acquiring an additional 89,057 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Global Payments by 338.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,288,108 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $379,416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,537,941 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,980,048 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $379,777,000 after purchasing an additional 76,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at about $365,933,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.7 %

GPN traded up $0.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $95.03. The stock had a trading volume of 4,749,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,452,514. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.60 and a 1-year high of $141.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.98.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.07. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 19.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com cut Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $129.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $158.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $146.39.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other news, VP Andrea M. Carter sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.34, for a total transaction of $367,422.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,806,770.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.