Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Bought by NEOS Investment Management LLC

NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 31.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,733 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $1,748,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 25.0% in the 4th 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. Focused Investors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at about $99,969,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 1,559.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 548,833 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,502,000 after purchasing an additional 515,763 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $271,090,000 after purchasing an additional 490,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,700,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN stock opened at $97.55 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $23.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $103.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.34. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.99 and a 52 week high of $133.63.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Stephens cut Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average 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.