Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) is Gator Capital Management LLC’s 7th Largest Position

Gator Capital Management LLC raised its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 86,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Global Payments accounts for 3.7% of Gator Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Gator Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $9,718,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 56.2% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,117,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $125,230,000 after acquiring an additional 402,172 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 424.8% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 86,215 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,661,000 after purchasing an additional 69,786 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,361,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in Global Payments by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 12,823 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,437,000 after purchasing an additional 2,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 38.4% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $194,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 target price (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.10.

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE GPN opened at $84.82 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $102.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.79. The stock has a market cap of $20.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.50 and a 52 week high of $129.35.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued 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 the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. Analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

Global Payments 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.