Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,101 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,389 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $3,493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stanley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter. Stanley Capital Management LLC now owns 125,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,146,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter worth $562,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 65.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $203,047,000 after acquiring an additional 785,539 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 20.6% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 172,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,723,000 after purchasing an additional 29,503 shares during the period. Finally, Poplar Forest Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth about $13,184,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Up 1.6 %

GPN opened at $119.36 on Thursday. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $141.77. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $106.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.67. The company has a market cap of $30.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.97.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid 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 0.84%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their price target on Global Payments from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. William Blair cut shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of 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. B. Riley decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $204.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $136.57.

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.