Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 179,195 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 24,995,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 179,195 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Global Payments worth $2,800,952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 177.5% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 94.4% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

Global Payments stock opened at $98.82 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.55. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.99 and a 52 week high of $136.36. The stock has a market cap of $24.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 price objective (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.33.

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.