10,360 Shares in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Acquired by Natural Investments LLC

Natural Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 10,360 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,160,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 worth $929,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659,984 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $605,078,000 after purchasing an additional 31,934 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $564,437,000 after purchasing an additional 83,481 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 13.4% during the 4th 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 raised its holdings in Global Payments by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $271,090,000 after acquiring an additional 490,411 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 price objective (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

Global Payments Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $93.35 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $107.19 and its 200-day moving average is $108.51. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.60 and a 1 year high of $140.38.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) 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). The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. Equities research analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Global Payments Company 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.