Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Makes New $3.15 Million Investment in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 28,094 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,148,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $2,282,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 2,548 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 33,902 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,795,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Sirios Capital Management L P lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 28.3% in the 4th quarter. Sirios Capital Management L P now owns 173,058 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $19,393,000 after purchasing an additional 38,216 shares during the period. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 264,271 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $29,614,000 after purchasing an additional 12,440 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $145.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $122.00 price objective (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Williams Trading set a $75.00 price objective on Global Payments in a research note on Friday, April 18th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $145.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $105.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $112.86.

Global Payments Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of GPN traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $76.38. 2,969,223 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,431,442. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.93 and a fifty-two week high of $122.12. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $90.75 and a 200-day moving average of $103.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.