PGGM Investments Purchases New Shares in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

PGGM Investments acquired a new position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 3,660 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $489,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 70.4% in the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 564 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth about $210,000. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 35.4% during the fourth quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 46,953 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,963,000 after purchasing an additional 12,273 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 82,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,499,000 after purchasing an additional 18,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 255,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,064,000 after purchasing an additional 15,655 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of GPN stock opened at $95.62 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $141.77. The stock has a market cap of $24.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.38.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. On average, research analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Global Payments news, VP Andrea M. Carter sold 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.34, for a total transaction of $367,422.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 25,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,806,770.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GPN. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Global Payments from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays lowered their price target on Global Payments from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $152.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $163.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.35.

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.