Mizuho Securities USA LLC Buys 7,621 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 46.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 24,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,621 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $2,703,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised 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 worth $330,516,000 after purchasing an additional 349,457 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,313 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 106.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 50,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,682,000 after buying an additional 26,104 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Global Payments by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,614,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $180,925,000 after buying an additional 72,992 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 31,016 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,476,000 after acquiring an additional 4,246 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens lowered Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 target price (down previously 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.33.

Global Payments Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $99.13 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.61. The company has a market capitalization of $24.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $90.99 and a 52-week high of $136.36.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is presently 16.18%.

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.