AIA Group Ltd Makes New Investment in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

AIA Group Ltd acquired a new stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,118 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $349,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 4.4% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 3,892 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC bought a new position in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $323,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Global Payments by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 11,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in Global Payments by 388.7% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 54,692 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,602,000 after purchasing an additional 43,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,009,000. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPN has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price target (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Global Payments from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Bank of America reduced their price target on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.10.

Global Payments Price Performance

GPN opened at $98.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $24.17 billion, a PE ratio of 15.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $103.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.16. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $90.99 and a 1 year high of $129.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is 16.18%.

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.