Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $180.93 Million Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,614,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 72,992 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $180,925,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 32.7% in the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 5,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 1,272 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Global Payments by 295.6% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 724 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 25,830 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,646,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 9,942 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 952 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in Global Payments by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 99,993 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,241,000 after purchasing an additional 3,603 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price objective (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

Global Payments Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:GPN opened at $100.09 on Friday. 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 simple moving average is $108.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.78. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $140.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.78 billion, a PE ratio of 16.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced 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 company had revenue of $2.29 billion during 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is presently 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.