Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN – Free Report) by 4.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 859,194 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 34,705 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.33% of Global Payments worth $99,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GPN. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,136 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,942 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,288,788 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $176,366,000 after purchasing an additional 48,605 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 259.7% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 17,285 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,377,000 after purchasing an additional 12,479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the 1st quarter worth about $766,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.
Global Payments Price Performance
GPN opened at $129.63 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $132.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.05 and a 1 year high of $141.77. The firm has a market cap of $33.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.29, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.96.
Global Payments (NYSE:GPN – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.01. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 10.22%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.30 EPS. Global Payments’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current year.
Global Payments Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 26.46%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
GPN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on Global Payments from $110.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Wedbush increased their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com cut Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. TheStreet raised Global Payments from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Global Payments from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.92.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Global Payments
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.
Featured Stories
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat’s editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Before you consider Global Payments, you’ll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street’s top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on… and Global Payments wasn’t on the list.
While Global Payments currently has a “Moderate Buy” rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
Wondering what the next stocks will be that hit it big, with solid fundamentals? Click the link below to learn more about how your portfolio could bloom.