Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Acquired by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 124,153 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,346 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $13,913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 2,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. Mill Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth approximately $205,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Global Payments by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,995,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,800,952,000 after purchasing an additional 179,195 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 126,430 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,168,000 after purchasing an additional 32,498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focused Investors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth $99,969,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. 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 note on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed 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. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.33.

Global Payments Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $97.55 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $103.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $90.99 and a 52-week high of $133.63.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. Equities analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. Global Payments’s 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.