Huntington National Bank Raises Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 38.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,760,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc grew its position in Global Payments by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 28,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,164,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 992 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,068 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Payments Stock Performance

GPN opened at $84.82 on Friday. 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 market cap of $20.85 billion, a PE ratio of 13.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.79. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $84.50 and a fifty-two week high of $129.35.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America cut their price target on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Global Payments from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Stephens downgraded shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.10.

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.