Cozad Asset Management Inc. Purchases 6,848 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 32.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 27,833 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,848 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $3,535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Global Payments by 138.5% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,323 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after acquiring an additional 14,125 shares in the last quarter. Investment House LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 90.7% during the fourth quarter. Investment House LLC now owns 68,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,721,000 after purchasing an additional 32,658 shares during the last quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 51,892 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,590,000 after purchasing an additional 2,345 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $631,000. Finally, Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 52,484 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,665,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE:GPN traded down $1.36 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $123.32. The company had a trading volume of 1,062,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,146,186. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $95.12 and a 52 week high of $141.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $129.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $31.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.98, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 26.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $154.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $137.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.