Dean Investment Associates LLC Acquires 328 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Dean Investment Associates LLC raised its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,980 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the period. Dean Investment Associates LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $2,687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $345,823,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Global Payments by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,298,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $929,969,000 after buying an additional 1,659,984 shares in the last quarter. Focused Investors LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $99,969,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 1,559.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 548,833 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $61,502,000 after buying an additional 515,763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth $53,700,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $69.50 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $96.25 and a 200-day moving average of $105.09. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $68.48 and a one year high of $127.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $17.09 billion, a PE ratio of 11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GPN shares. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on Global Payments from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price target (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $124.73.

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.