Machina Capital S.A.S. Raises Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Machina Capital S.A.S. increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 121.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 15,716 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,606 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S.'s holdings in Global Payments were worth $1,761,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GPN. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 3.4% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,638,862 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $679,952,000 after acquiring an additional 215,399 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,445 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $605,078,000 after acquiring an additional 31,934 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 1.5% during 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 boosted 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 acquiring an additional 349,457 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $271,090,000 after acquiring an additional 490,411 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Global Payments Trading Up 0.6 %

GPN traded up $0.65 during trading on Friday, reaching $100.79. 2,108,734 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,078,074. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.96 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The stock's 50-day moving average is $107.84 and its 200 day moving average is $108.72. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $140.38.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. Equities analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.18%.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GPN shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America cut their price target on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stephens cut Global Payments from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Global Payments has a consensus 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.