KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Purchases Shares of 94,837 Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 94,837 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $10,627,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Global Payments by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,298,846 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $929,969,000 after buying an additional 1,659,984 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,445 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $605,078,000 after acquiring an additional 31,934 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 1.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $564,437,000 after acquiring an additional 83,481 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 13.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 349,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Global Payments by 22.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $271,090,000 after purchasing an additional 490,411 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on GPN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $122.00 target price (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target 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. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $134.33.

Global Payments Trading Down 0.2 %

GPN traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $98.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,107,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,072,407. The business's 50-day moving average is $104.49 and its 200-day moving average is $107.61. 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 stock has a market cap of $24.30 billion, a PE ratio of 15.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.99 and a fifty-two week high of $136.36.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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

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.