Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Position Trimmed by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. reduced its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 776 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $2,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also 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 worth $330,516,000 after acquiring an additional 349,457 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Global Payments by 106.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 26,104 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew 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 last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 15.9% in the 4th 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 during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on GPN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated 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. Bank of America lowered their target price on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stephens lowered Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.33.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.2 %

GPN opened at $98.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $24.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.99, 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. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $104.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.55. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.99 and a twelve month high of $136.36.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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%. Research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. 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.