Sei Investments Co. Raises Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 186,934 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,783 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.07% of Global Payments worth $20,948,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GPN. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 23,136 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,370,000 after purchasing an additional 4,874 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Global Payments by 3.9% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 40,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,128,000 after buying an additional 1,496 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 9.7% in the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 3,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 11.0% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 34,101 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,493,000 after acquiring an additional 3,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter valued at about $492,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Payments Stock Performance

GPN opened at $100.10 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.49. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $90.99 and a 52-week high of $135.33. The company has a market cap of $24.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.20, 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 issued its quarterly 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. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 16.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on GPN shares. Stephens downgraded shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America dropped their price target 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. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Global Payments has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.