DnB Asset Management AS Increases Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

DnB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,050 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $6,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,995,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,800,952,000 after acquiring an additional 179,195 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,298,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $929,969,000 after buying an additional 1,659,984 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Global Payments by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $605,078,000 after acquiring an additional 31,934 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Global Payments by 1.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 83,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at about $345,823,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE:GPN opened at $97.55 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $90.99 and a 52-week high of $133.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $103.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.32. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GPN shares. Barclays reduced their target price on Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 target price (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. One investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

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.