Argyle Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Argyle Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 114.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,305 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,768 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management LLC's holdings in Global Payments were worth $1,792,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,995,107 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,800,952,000 after acquiring an additional 179,195 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 25.0% during 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 position in shares of Global Payments by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,230,322 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $696,362,000 after purchasing an additional 301,877 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth approximately $345,823,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,906,444 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $325,698,000 after buying an additional 259,590 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of Global Payments stock opened at $81.79 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $19.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $77.98 and a 200 day moving average of $93.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.93 and a 12 month 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.73 by $0.09. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.33% and a net margin of 15.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.59 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Global Payments's payout ratio is currently 16.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on GPN. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Global Payments from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $86.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, April 25th. TD Cowen lowered Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, April 18th. Evercore ISI started coverage on Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $110.91.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.