Norges Bank Makes New Investment in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,086,055 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $345,823,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.21% of Global Payments at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GPN. NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 31.5% in the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 15,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,748,000 after purchasing an additional 3,733 shares during the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 23,421 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,625,000 after buying an additional 765 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 397,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,786,000 after acquiring an additional 31,124 shares during the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP grew its position in Global Payments by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 176,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $19,811,000 after acquiring an additional 59,300 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in Global Payments by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 124,153 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,913,000 after acquiring an additional 2,346 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $97.55 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $103.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.99 and a twelve month high of $133.63.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their target price on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research 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.com, Global Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.33.

Global Payments Company 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.