Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 402,172 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 56.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,117,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 402,172 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $125,230,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in Global Payments by 4.4% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 3,892 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Global Payments by 17.0% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 11,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,128,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth $270,000. Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its holdings in Global Payments by 46.7% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 8,480 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $869,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments during the third quarter valued at about $209,000. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on GPN. Stephens downgraded shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 target price (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Global Payments from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. 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.com, Global Payments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.10.

Global Payments Trading Down 8.8 %

NYSE GPN opened at $84.82 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $20.85 billion, a PE ratio of 13.72, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.50 and a 12 month high of $129.35. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $102.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.83.

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

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

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.