Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Buys 8,061 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 8.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 106,939 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 8,061 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Global Payments were worth $10,471,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GPN. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at about $345,823,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,298,846 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $929,969,000 after buying an additional 1,659,984 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 75,379.7% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,517,141 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $148,558,000 after buying an additional 1,515,131 shares during the last quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at about $147,695,000. Finally, Focused Investors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at about $99,969,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN traded up $0.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $78.78. 2,872,798 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,504,791. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $65.93 and a one year high of $120.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business has a 50-day moving average of $76.93 and a 200 day moving average of $94.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.93.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.73 by $0.09. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 12.33%. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.59 earnings per share. Global Payments's revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GPN shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $105.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Williams Trading set a $75.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Friday, April 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.