CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Raises Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 288,573 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,036 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.11% of Global Payments worth $32,327,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GPN. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 177.5% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 374.2% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 569 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE GPN traded up $0.01 during trading on Thursday, reaching $71.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,255,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,703,222. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.93 and a twelve month high of $127.06. The firm has a market cap of $17.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97. The business's fifty day moving average price is $93.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.30. 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 (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Global Payments's payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on GPN shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Global Payments from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen cut shares of Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Williams Trading set a $75.00 price objective on Global Payments in a research note on Friday, April 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $114.86.

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.