Alberta Investment Management Corp Purchases Shares of 10,320 Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 10,320 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,156,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 59.6% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 383 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 94.4% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE:GPN opened at $103.19 on Friday. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $140.38. 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 simple moving average is $109.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.01.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly 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). The company 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, analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.18%.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 price objective (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens lowered shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

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.