Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 234,940 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,456 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Global Payments worth $26,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $330,516,000 after acquiring an additional 349,457 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Global Payments by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $203,047,000 after purchasing an additional 785,539 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Global Payments by 106.1% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,614,533 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $180,925,000 after purchasing an additional 72,992 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens downgraded shares of Global Payments from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $122.00 target price (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $134.33.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of GPN stock traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $97.03. 4,603,590 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,083,296. 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's fifty day simple moving average is $104.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.81. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.99 and a 12-month high of $136.36. The stock has a market cap of $23.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.70, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). 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. On average, analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments's payout ratio is 16.18%.

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.