Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Acquired by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 138.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,323 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,125 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $3,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Investment House LLC lifted its stake in Global Payments by 90.7% in the 4th quarter. Investment House LLC now owns 68,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,721,000 after purchasing an additional 32,658 shares in the last quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 51,892 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,590,000 after purchasing an additional 2,345 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth approximately $631,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Global Payments by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 52,484 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,665,000 after buying an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Global Payments by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 29,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,790,000 after buying an additional 1,282 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on GPN. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Global Payments from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $160.00 to $157.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wedbush upped their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Global Payments presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.00.

Global Payments Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:GPN opened at $111.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $127.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $95.12 and a 12-month high of $141.77. The firm has a market cap of $28.36 billion, a PE ratio of 22.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.97.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.01. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 13.40%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.84%.

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.