Natixis Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 234,940 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,456 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $26,327,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,298,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $929,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659,984 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 65.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $203,047,000 after purchasing an additional 785,539 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 1,559.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position 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 valued at $271,090,000 after purchasing an additional 490,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at $53,700,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $95.82 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $23.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $105.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.06. 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 12 month low of $90.99 and a 12 month high of $136.36.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GPN shares. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stephens lowered shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 target price (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Global Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

Global Payments Company 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.