Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 63,185 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management acquired an additional 63,185 shares of Global Payments Inc., increasing its stake by 15.9% and owning a total of 461,001 shares worth approximately $45.14 million.
• Global Payments recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 1.2%, with an ex-dividend date of September 12th.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Global Payments, with the average target now at $112.21, indicating a generally bullish sentiment towards the stock.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 15.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 461,001 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 63,185 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.19% of Global Payments worth $45,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. increased its position in Global Payments by 17.1% in the 1st quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 2,897 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Global Payments by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,624,288 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $159,050,000 after buying an additional 9,755 shares during the period. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. bought a new position in Global Payments in the 1st quarter worth approximately $457,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Global Payments in the 1st quarter worth approximately $393,000. Finally, Factorial Partners LLC increased its position in Global Payments by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Factorial Partners LLC now owns 42,900 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,201,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Price Performance

Global Payments stock traded up $1.46 on Tuesday, reaching $82.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,695,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,825,770. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $19.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.39, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.93. The business's fifty day moving average price is $79.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.30. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.93 and a twelve month high of $120.00.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.04. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.47% and a net margin of 15.07%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is 17.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $172,000.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 30,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,641,318. This represents a 6.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GPN. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wolfe Research reissued a "peer perform" rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho raised Global Payments from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $86.00 to $114.00 in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Global Payments from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Global Payments has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $112.21.

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.