Prana Capital Management LP Boosts Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Prana Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 202,164 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 19,277 shares during the quarter. Global Payments accounts for approximately 1.1% of Prana Capital Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Prana Capital Management LP owned 0.08% of Global Payments worth $22,654,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AIA Group Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $349,000. Oribel Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 495.1% in the 4th quarter. Oribel Capital Management LP now owns 521,300 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $58,417,000 after purchasing an additional 433,700 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 9.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings 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 valued at $5,682,000 after purchasing an additional 26,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focused Investors LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $99,969,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Williams Trading set a $75.00 price objective on Global Payments in a report on Friday, April 18th. Evercore ISI began coverage on Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on Global Payments from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Global Payments from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $86.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $112.43.

Global Payments Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE GPN traded down $0.61 during trading on Friday, hitting $82.37. The stock had a trading volume of 3,610,994 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,461,547. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.93 and a twelve month high of $120.00. The company has a market capitalization of $20.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.33, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $85.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.75.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.13%.

About Global Payments

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.