Boston Partners lowered its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 752,353 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 8,795 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned 0.30% of Global Payments worth $84,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 5.3% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 36,436 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,732,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 75,818 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,765,000 after buying an additional 7,753 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 31,371 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,213,000 after buying an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter valued at approximately $681,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 1.9% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 44,610 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,569,000 after acquiring an additional 846 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research firms have weighed in on GPN. 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 report on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $134.33.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Global Payments
Global Payments Price Performance
Global Payments stock traded up $2.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $99.13. 2,341,435 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,081,790. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.99 and a 12-month high of $136.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $104.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.68. The company has a market cap of $24.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.04, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04.
Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 analysts' expectations of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. Equities analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.
Global Payments Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.18%.
Global Payments Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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