Russell Investments Group Ltd. Boosts Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 56.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,117,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 402,172 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.44% of Global Payments worth $125,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Global Payments by 0.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,760,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Sage Capital Advisors llc lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 28,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,164,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its holdings in Global Payments by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 992 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its position in Global Payments by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 target price (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup decreased 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.10.

Global Payments Trading Down 8.8 %

NYSE GPN opened at $84.82 on Friday. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $84.50 and a twelve month high of $129.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.85 billion, a PE ratio of 13.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $102.35 and its 200 day moving average is $106.83.

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

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is presently 16.18%.

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.