11,988 Shares in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Purchased by Beck Bode LLC

Beck Bode LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 11,988 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,522,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GPN. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 40.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,346,779 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,525,000 after buying an additional 2,703,434 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 338.3% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,288,108 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $379,416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,537,941 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter worth approximately $197,875,000. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 40.5% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,142,771 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $591,613,000 after purchasing an additional 1,481,714 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 119.0% during the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,085,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $125,287,000 after purchasing an additional 590,000 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GPN traded down $1.91 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $122.77. The stock had a trading volume of 2,616,374 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,166,954. The firm has a market cap of $31.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.48, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $95.12 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $128.84 and a 200-day moving average of $124.93.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 10.22%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 26.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $129.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Global Payments from $138.00 to $137.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Global Payments from $154.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $151.92.

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.