Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Acquired by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 5.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,436 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,838 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Global Payments were worth $3,732,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 194.2% during the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,423,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $621,149,000 after acquiring an additional 4,240,388 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in Global Payments by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,797,677 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $639,967,000 after purchasing an additional 12,196 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,957,914 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $189,307,000 after purchasing an additional 193,137 shares in the last quarter. Davis Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Global Payments by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter. Davis Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,300,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $125,710,000 after purchasing an additional 200,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 188.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $109,857,000 after buying an additional 755,898 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GPN. William Blair downgraded shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $147.00 target price on shares of Global Payments in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $145.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Global Payments from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $136.57.

Global Payments Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $118.56 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.17 billion, a PE ratio of 22.33, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.97. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $141.77. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.50.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

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.