Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 191.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,718 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $2,653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GPN. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 10.3% during the first 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 boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 7.7% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,942 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $539,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 3.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,288,788 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $176,366,000 after buying an additional 48,605 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in Global Payments by 259.7% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the first quarter valued at $766,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Trading Up 1.0 %

GPN traded up $1.19 on Tuesday, hitting $124.36. 958,061 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,238,111. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.72 billion, a PE ratio of 32.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.96. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $95.12 and a 12 month high of $141.77. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 10.22%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Global Payments from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Global Payments from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Global Payments from $154.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Global Payments has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $151.92.

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.