SVB Wealth LLC Invests $605,000 in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $605,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,638,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $679,952,000 after purchasing an additional 215,399 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Global Payments by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $605,078,000 after purchasing an additional 31,934 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Global Payments by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $564,437,000 after purchasing an additional 83,481 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Global Payments by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $330,516,000 after purchasing an additional 349,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Global Payments by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $271,090,000 after purchasing an additional 490,411 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Price Performance

Global Payments stock opened at $102.80 on Tuesday. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $140.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $108.87 and a 200-day moving average of $108.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.63, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPN has been the subject of several analyst reports. 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 note on Thursday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays reduced their price target on Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup reduced 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Global Payments

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.