Lyrical Asset Management LP Boosts Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Lyrical Asset Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,834,046 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 77,487 shares during the period. Global Payments comprises approximately 3.1% of Lyrical Asset Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Lyrical Asset Management LP owned approximately 0.72% of Global Payments worth $205,523,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,760,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 28,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,164,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in Global Payments by 11.2% in the 4th 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. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in Global Payments by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,068 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GPN shares. Stephens cut shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.10.

Global Payments Trading Down 8.8 %

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $84.82 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.85 billion, a PE ratio of 13.72, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $84.50 and a twelve month high of $129.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.79.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.