Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Increases Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,648 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $3,257,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter worth $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $126.95 on Wednesday. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $95.12 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. The company has a market capitalization of $32.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.01. Global Payments had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.44%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GPN shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Global Payments from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $129.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Global Payments from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. TheStreet raised Global Payments from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Global Payments from $154.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $151.92.

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.