Chiron Investment Management LLC Buys Shares of 3,565 Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Chiron Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,565 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $399,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,995,107 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,800,952,000 after buying an additional 179,195 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 valued at $929,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659,984 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,230,322 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $696,362,000 after purchasing an additional 301,877 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Global Payments by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $564,437,000 after purchasing an additional 83,481 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth $345,823,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Stock Down 17.4 %

GPN stock traded down $14.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $69.50. 17,553,278 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,313,527. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.09. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.48 and a twelve month high of $127.66. The company has a market capitalization of $17.09 billion, a PE ratio of 11.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GPN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $122.00 price target (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stephens lowered shares of Global Payments from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $124.73.

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.