Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Acquires New Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 182,963 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $20,503,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned approximately 0.07% of Global Payments as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GPN. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at $345,823,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,298,846 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $929,969,000 after acquiring an additional 1,659,984 shares in the last quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $147,695,000. Focused Investors LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $99,969,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 40.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,656,830 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $185,664,000 after acquiring an additional 479,791 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GPN shares. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Cowen downgraded shares of Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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 note on Wednesday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $112.43.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.5%

GPN traded down $0.36 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $75.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,674,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,479,568. The stock's 50-day moving average is $81.33 and its 200-day moving average is $99.48. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.93 and a 1 year high of $120.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. Global Payments's payout ratio is 16.13%.

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.