Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 8,078 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 299,137 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,078 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Global Payments worth $30,638,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 8.4% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,214 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 219.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,317 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 7,083 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 10.6% during the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,327 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Global Payments by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,284 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $706,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its position in Global Payments by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 42,342 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,660,000 after acquiring an additional 1,911 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of GPN traded up $1.27 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $116.68. The company had a trading volume of 1,945,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,298,435. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $104.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $103.40. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $141.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.97.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Global Payments's payout ratio is 18.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GPN shares. B. Riley lowered their price objective on Global Payments from $204.00 to $194.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stephens reduced their target price on Global Payments from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. William Blair downgraded Global Payments from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $126.00 to $122.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Global Payments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $136.50.

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.