Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 257,525 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 17.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,733,333 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 257,525 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.67% of Global Payments worth $220,146,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 77.7% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 407 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In other news, VP Andrea M. Carter sold 3,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.34, for a total transaction of $367,422.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 25,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,806,770.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of Global Payments from a "c" rating to a "b-" rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Global Payments from $154.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $163.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Global Payments from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on Global Payments from $129.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $149.11.

Global Payments Stock Down 1.3 %

GPN traded down $1.38 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $108.81. 3,456,514 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,278,254. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $124.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $124.94. The company has a market cap of $27.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.53, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.97. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $95.12 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 13.40%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.84%.

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.