Alberta Investment Management Corp Makes New $1.16 Million Investment in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 10,320 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,156,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $330,516,000 after buying an additional 349,457 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $203,047,000 after purchasing an additional 785,539 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter worth $562,000. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 9.8% during the fourth 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. Finally, Poplar Forest Capital LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments in the third quarter valued at about $13,184,000. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Global Payments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.33.

Global Payments Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $103.19 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $109.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.82. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $91.60 and a one year high of $140.38. 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 capitalization of $25.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.01.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is presently 16.18%.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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.