Norinchukin Bank The Purchases 1,125 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Norinchukin Bank The lifted its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 10.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,821 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,125 shares during the period. Norinchukin Bank The’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $1,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at $345,823,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,298,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $929,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659,984 shares during the period. Focused Investors LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth about $99,969,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 1,559.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 548,833 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $61,502,000 after buying an additional 515,763 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth about $53,700,000. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN stock opened at $69.50 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $95.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.48 and a 52-week high of $127.66.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for 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, sell-side analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price target (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $124.73.

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.