Erste Asset Management GmbH Buys 5,331 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Erste Asset Management GmbH increased its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 26.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,220 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,331 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH's holdings in Global Payments were worth $2,833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in Global Payments by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,850 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the 3rd quarter worth about $202,000. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the 3rd quarter worth about $562,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Global Payments by 114.3% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 66,570 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,818,000 after acquiring an additional 35,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in Global Payments by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 8,257 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stephens downgraded Global Payments from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One equities research 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 MarketBeat, Global Payments has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $134.33.

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Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN traded up $2.23 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $98.09. 2,744,526 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,001,987. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $105.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.95. The stock has a market cap of $24.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.99 and a 12 month high of $136.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. Equities analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. Global Payments's payout ratio is 16.18%.

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.