Guardian Wealth Management Inc. Takes $2.28 Million Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Guardian Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 20,367 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,282,000. Global Payments accounts for 1.6% of Guardian Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Global Payments by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $330,516,000 after purchasing an additional 349,457 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $349,000. Oribel Capital Management LP increased its position in Global Payments by 495.1% during the fourth quarter. Oribel Capital Management LP now owns 521,300 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $58,417,000 after acquiring an additional 433,700 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in Global Payments by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,313 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Global Payments by 106.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 50,705 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,682,000 after purchasing an additional 26,104 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Up 2.3 %

NYSE:GPN traded up $1.68 on Tuesday, hitting $75.99. 1,082,661 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,761,316. The company has a market cap of $18.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $91.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $103.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.93 and a 52 week high of $124.65.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. As a group, analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Global Payments's payout ratio is 16.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on GPN. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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. Cowen cut Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $122.00 target price (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $112.86.

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.