Bank of Nova Scotia Grows Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 746.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 276,040 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 243,442 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia owned approximately 0.11% of Global Payments worth $30,933,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE GPN traded up $0.67 on Tuesday, hitting $85.73. The stock had a trading volume of 396,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,288,600. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $98.06 and a 200-day moving average of $105.60. The company has a market capitalization of $21.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.83 and a 52-week high of $127.66.

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Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for 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%. Equities analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on GPN shares. Stephens lowered Global Payments from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $122.00 price objective (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $129.81.

About Global Payments

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.