AQR Capital Management LLC Acquires 262,521 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 23.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,374,285 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing 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 and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Global Frontier Investments LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth about $7,620,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Global Payments by 12.6% in the fourth 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. bought a new position in Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Boothbay Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in Global Payments by 402.4% in the 4th quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 98,457 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $11,033,000 after acquiring an additional 78,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,708,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:GPN traded up $1.12 on Monday, hitting $79.97. The company had a trading volume of 1,264,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,392,814. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.93 and a 1 year high of $120.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $89.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $103.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.95, 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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, April 18th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stephens cut Global Payments from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Global Payments from $105.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $112.86.

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.