Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $7.65 Million Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 73.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 60,246 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,414 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $7,651,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GPN. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 77.7% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 407 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.5 %

GPN opened at $127.47 on Thursday. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $95.12 and a twelve month high of $141.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a fifty day moving average of $129.64 and a 200-day moving average of $124.58. The stock has a market cap of $32.52 billion, a PE ratio of 33.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.96.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. Global Payments’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.94 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. B. Riley increased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $154.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.