Contour Asset Management LLC Acquires New Shares in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Contour Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,318,000 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $147,695,000. Global Payments makes up 4.3% of Contour Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Contour Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.52% of Global Payments as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Crestline Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,979,000. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 576,000 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $64,547,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,738 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,884,000 after buying an additional 1,798 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 24,953 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,796,000 after buying an additional 3,892 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,248 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,941,000 after acquiring an additional 3,240 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on GPN shares. TD Cowen lowered Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a "peer perform" rating on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Global Payments from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $112.09.

Global Payments Trading Up 3.4%

NYSE GPN traded up $2.76 on Monday, reaching $83.26. The company had a trading volume of 1,115,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,421,120. The stock's 50 day moving average is $86.87 and its 200-day moving average is $102.39. The stock has a market cap of $20.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.47, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.96. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.93 and a 52 week high of $120.00.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.73 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.20 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The company's revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.59 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is 16.13%.

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.