Northstar Advisory Group LLC Acquires New Shares in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Northstar Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 10,092 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,282,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Global Payments by 10.3% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,136 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in Global Payments by 7.7% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,942 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Global Payments by 3.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,288,788 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $176,366,000 after purchasing an additional 48,605 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in Global Payments by 259.7% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 17,285 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,377,000 after purchasing an additional 12,479 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential PLC bought a new position in Global Payments during the first quarter worth about $766,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN stock traded up $1.89 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $133.66. 2,350,069 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,395,490. The company has a market capitalization of $34.10 billion, a PE ratio of 35.36, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.96. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $95.12 and a 12-month high of $141.77. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $132.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.01. Global Payments had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.44%. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Global Payments's payout ratio is 26.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GPN shares. Mizuho reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $129.00 target price on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, B. Riley raised their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $151.92.

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.