Geode Capital Management LLC Increases Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,230,322 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 301,877 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.45% of Global Payments worth $696,362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GPN. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Global Payments by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $330,516,000 after buying an additional 349,457 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth $349,000. Caprock Group LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,313 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Global Payments by 106.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 50,705 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,682,000 after purchasing an additional 26,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focused Investors LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at about $99,969,000. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Stock Performance

GPN traded down $3.35 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $81.53. 1,871,267 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,179,667. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $102.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $78.51 and a 1-year high of $129.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

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Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last announced 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). 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 analysts' expectations of $2.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stephens lowered shares of Global Payments from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $134.10.

Global Payments 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.