274,300 Shares in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Acquired by Discovery Capital Management LLC CT

Discovery Capital Management LLC CT bought a new position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 274,300 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $30,738,000. Global Payments makes up approximately 2.1% of Discovery Capital Management LLC CT's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT owned approximately 0.11% of Global Payments as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of 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 valued at $2,800,952,000 after purchasing an additional 179,195 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Global Payments by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,298,846 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $929,969,000 after buying an additional 1,659,984 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $696,362,000 after buying an additional 301,877 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 1.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $564,437,000 after acquiring an additional 83,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth $345,823,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on GPN. Stephens cut Global Payments from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America cut their target price on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $134.10.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN stock traded down $8.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $84.82. 6,326,947 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,178,421. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.50 and a 52 week high of $129.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.72, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $102.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.83. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is 16.18%.

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.