Vanguard Group Inc. Has $2.80 Billion Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,995,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 179,195 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.82% of Global Payments worth $2,800,952,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GPN. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in 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 valued at $929,969,000 after acquiring an additional 1,659,984 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 holdings in shares of 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 worth $564,437,000 after buying an additional 83,481 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $330,516,000 after buying an additional 349,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Global Payments by 22.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $271,090,000 after buying an additional 490,411 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Trading Down 0.2 %

GPN opened at $98.82 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $24.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $104.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $90.99 and a 1-year high of $136.36.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. Analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GPN shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 target price (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

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.