Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 35.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 995,487 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 258,179 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.39% of Global Payments worth $111,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 94.4% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 517 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 177.5% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages have commented on GPN. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $122.00 price target (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Global Payments presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $134.10.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Global Payments
Global Payments Stock Performance
NYSE:GPN traded down $8.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $84.82. 6,326,947 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,180,256. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $84.50 and a 52-week high of $129.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.72, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97. The company's 50 day moving average price is $102.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.79.
Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). The company 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%. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.18%.
Global Payments Company 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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