Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Purchased by Y.D. More Investments Ltd

Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 241.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,423 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,247 shares during the quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GPN. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its holdings in Global Payments by 70.4% in the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 564 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Global Payments by 60.5% in the third quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 19,593 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,261,000 after acquiring an additional 7,387 shares in the last quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH acquired a new position in Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at $1,815,000. AFS Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at $202,000. Finally, Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 19,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,479,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Down 11.2 %

Shares of GPN traded down $13.71 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $109.06. The company had a trading volume of 9,057,595 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,248,984. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $128.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.93. The stock has a market cap of $27.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.01, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.96. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $95.12 and a 52 week high of $141.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.01. Global Payments had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.44%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.94 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is currently 26.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, B. Riley raised their target price on shares of Global Payments from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.92.

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.