Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Purchased by Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,695 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 363 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $2,095,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 13.4% during 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 period. Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,313 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings 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 during the period. Focused Investors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $99,969,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Global Payments by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,614,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $180,925,000 after acquiring an additional 72,992 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $99.75 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $24.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $103.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.11. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.99 and a 52 week high of $129.35. 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 (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stephens downgraded shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Citigroup decreased their price target on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.10.

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.