Pzena Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 3.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,638,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 215,399 shares during the period. Global Payments comprises about 2.2% of Pzena Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned about 2.61% of Global Payments worth $679,952,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GPN. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 188.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $109,857,000 after acquiring an additional 755,898 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 316.7% during the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 609,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $58,981,000 after purchasing an additional 463,568 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 171.6% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 561,314 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $54,279,000 after purchasing an additional 354,648 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,439,000. Finally, Kodai Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 59.8% during the 1st quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP now owns 868,644 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $116,103,000 after purchasing an additional 325,111 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on GPN shares. StockNews.com downgraded Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. BNP Paribas upgraded Global Payments to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Global Payments from $164.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.50.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:GPN traded down $0.17 on Wednesday, reaching $114.55. The stock had a trading volume of 211,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,283,910. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50-day moving average of $105.48 and a 200 day moving average of $103.34. The stock has a market cap of $29.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.60 and a 12-month high of $141.77.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

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.