Wealthfront Advisers LLC Buys 11,273 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 153.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,273 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $2,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 25.0% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $605,078,000 after purchasing an additional 31,934 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Global Payments by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $564,437,000 after acquiring an additional 83,481 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Global Payments by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $330,516,000 after acquiring an additional 349,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Global Payments by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $271,090,000 after acquiring an additional 490,411 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GPN shares. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens lowered Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price objective (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

Global Payments Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $94.15 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The business’s 50-day moving average is $106.05 and its 200-day moving average is $108.18. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $90.99 and a 1 year high of $136.36.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 16.18%.

Global Payments Profile

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.