FMR LLC reduced its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,913,924 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 469,819 shares during the quarter. FMR LLC owned about 1.54% of Global Payments worth $438,594,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $345,823,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $929,969,000 after buying an additional 1,659,984 shares in the last quarter. Focused Investors LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth approximately $99,969,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Global Payments by 1,559.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 548,833 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $61,502,000 after acquiring an additional 515,763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at $53,700,000. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms have issued reports on GPN. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $122.00 price target (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stephens lowered Global Payments from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $129.81.
View Our Latest Research Report on GPN
Global Payments Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE:GPN traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $85.59. The company had a trading volume of 345,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,235,106. The company has a fifty day moving average of $98.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.60. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.83 and a 12-month high of $127.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $21.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.84, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97.
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 (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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Global Payments Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid 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 1.17%. Global Payments's payout ratio is presently 16.18%.
About Global Payments
(
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.
Further Reading
Before you consider Global Payments, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Global Payments wasn't on the list.
While Global Payments currently has a Hold rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Just getting into the stock market? These 10 simple stocks can help beginning investors build long-term wealth without knowing options, technicals, or other advanced strategies.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.
