Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Acquired by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 73.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 60,246 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 25,414 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Global Payments were worth $7,651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GPN. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 3.8% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,485 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its holdings in Global Payments by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 5,409 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $687,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 2.0% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,707 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $543,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,740 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,828,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, KB Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 2.9% during the third quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,069 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Trading Down 2.2 %

GPN stock traded down $2.84 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $124.63. The company had a trading volume of 1,196,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,156,823. The company has a market capitalization of $31.79 billion, a PE ratio of 32.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $129.38 and a 200 day moving average of $124.58. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $95.12 and a 12 month high of $141.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

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

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush upped their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Global Payments from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Global Payments from a "c" rating to a "b-" rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Global Payments currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $151.92.

Global Payments 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.