Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Purchases 4,246 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 15.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 31,016 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,246 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $3,476,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,638,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $679,952,000 after buying an additional 215,399 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $605,078,000 after acquiring an additional 31,934 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 1.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $564,437,000 after acquiring an additional 83,481 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Global Payments by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $330,516,000 after acquiring an additional 349,457 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE GPN opened at $109.53 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $112.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.37. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $91.60 and a one year high of $141.77. The firm has a market cap of $27.87 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Global Payments from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 price objective (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $135.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

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.