Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 20.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 79,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,393 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $8,961,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 3.4% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,638,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $679,952,000 after acquiring an additional 215,399 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Global Payments by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $605,078,000 after purchasing an additional 31,934 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Global Payments by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $564,437,000 after purchasing an additional 83,481 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $330,516,000 after purchasing an additional 349,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 22.7% during the third 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 in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $103.19 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.60 and a 12-month high of $140.38. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $109.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.91.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays cut their target price on 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 lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Global Payments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.