DnB Asset Management AS Raises Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

DnB Asset Management AS increased its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 61,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,050 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $6,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $330,516,000 after buying an additional 349,457 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,313 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 106.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 50,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,682,000 after purchasing an additional 26,104 shares during the period. Focused Investors LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $99,969,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Global Payments by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,614,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $180,925,000 after buying an additional 72,992 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPN has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lowered their price target on Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.33.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $97.55 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $23.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.99 and a 52 week high of $133.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $103.72 and a 200-day moving average of $107.32.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

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.