HighTower Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 22.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,294 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,533 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Global Payments were worth $4,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,659,984 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Global Payments by 65.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $203,047,000 after purchasing an additional 785,539 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 515,763 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Global Payments by 22.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $271,090,000 after buying an additional 490,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at $53,700,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Global Payments Trading Up 2.1 %

GPN stock traded up $2.08 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $99.13. The company had a trading volume of 2,341,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,081,790. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.99 and a 52 week high of $136.36. The stock has a market cap of $24.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.04, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $104.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.68.

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 (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments's payout ratio is 16.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GPN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $122.00 price objective (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stephens lowered shares of 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $134.33.

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.