Summit Global Investments Invests $212,000 in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,891 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth $90,000. Goodman Financial Corp raised its position in Global Payments by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Goodman Financial Corp now owns 123,867 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,881,000 after purchasing an additional 2,908 shares during the last quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $594,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $267,000. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 111,502 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,495,000 after acquiring an additional 6,694 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN stock opened at $98.82 on Wednesday. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $90.99 and a one year high of $136.36. The company has a market cap of $24.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $104.31 and a 200-day moving average of $107.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 target price (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.33.

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.