Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $7.65 Million Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 73.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,246 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 25,414 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $7,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GPN. FMR LLC increased its position in Global Payments by 40.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,346,779 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,078,525,000 after buying an additional 2,703,434 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Global Payments by 338.3% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,288,108 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $379,416,000 after buying an additional 2,537,941 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the third quarter worth $197,875,000. Boston Partners increased its position in Global Payments by 40.5% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,142,771 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $591,613,000 after buying an additional 1,481,714 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Global Payments by 119.0% during the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,085,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $125,287,000 after buying an additional 590,000 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE:GPN opened at $127.47 on Thursday. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $95.12 and a 1 year high of $141.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $129.64 and a 200-day moving average of $124.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.96.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.01. Global Payments had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.44%. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. Global Payments’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their price target on Global Payments from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $129.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Global Payments from $154.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Global Payments from $138.00 to $137.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Global Payments from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $151.92.

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.