Wealthsource Partners LLC Invests $354,000 in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Wealthsource Partners LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN – Get Rating) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 3,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $354,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 52.9% in the third quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 321 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 48.7% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 348 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. CI Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 1,002.9% in the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 375 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GPN. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $220.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $118.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 13th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Monday, February 13th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $160.00 to $157.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 15th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Global Payments from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.31.

Global Payments Stock Up 5.4 %

GPN stock opened at $101.20 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $92.27 and a fifty-two week high of $146.71. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $110.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.73. The stock has a market cap of $26.63 billion, a PE ratio of 230.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.00.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 10th. The business services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.08. Global Payments had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 10.30%. The business had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 9.85 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 17th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 16th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,562 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.08, for a total value of $176,630.96. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 28,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,169,858.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

About Global Payments

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Global Payments, Inc engages in the provision of payment technology and software solutions. It operates through the following segments: Merchant Solutions, Issuer Solutions and Business & Consumer Solutions. The Merchant Solutions segment provides payments technology and software solutions to customers globally.