Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Bought by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 23.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,374,285 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 262,521 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.54% of Global Payments worth $153,741,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Global Frontier Investments LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at $7,620,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Global Payments by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,730,471 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $305,977,000 after purchasing an additional 305,987 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Boothbay Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Global Payments by 402.4% during the 4th quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 98,457 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $11,033,000 after acquiring an additional 78,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth about $1,708,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on GPN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Global Payments from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $122.00 target price (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. TD Cowen cut shares of Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, April 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Global Payments currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $112.86.

Global Payments Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE:GPN traded up $2.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $78.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,735,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,397,043. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $89.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $103.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.93 and a 52 week high of $120.00. The company has a market capitalization of $19.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.96.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

Global Payments Company 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.