Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Acquires 4,000 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,860 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $5,699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,638,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $679,952,000 after acquiring an additional 215,399 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Global Payments by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $605,078,000 after purchasing an additional 31,934 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Global Payments by 1.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $564,437,000 after purchasing an additional 83,481 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Global Payments by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $330,516,000 after purchasing an additional 349,457 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Global Payments by 22.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $271,090,000 after buying an additional 490,411 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Price Performance

Global Payments stock opened at $103.83 on Tuesday. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $140.38. The company has a market cap of $25.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $109.74 and its 200 day moving average is $109.00. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS 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 business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on GPN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price objective (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Global Payments has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

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.