Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Bought by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 77,633 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $8,700,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at $345,823,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Global Payments by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,298,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $929,969,000 after buying an additional 1,659,984 shares in the last quarter. Focused Investors LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth about $99,969,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Global Payments by 1,559.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 548,833 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $61,502,000 after acquiring an additional 515,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $271,090,000 after acquiring an additional 490,411 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Global Payments from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stephens lowered Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.10.

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE GPN opened at $98.09 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $24.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.99 and a 12-month high of $133.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $103.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.25.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). The business 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.18%.

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.