Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 2,094 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,712 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,094 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $2,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 194.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,423,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $621,149,000 after acquiring an additional 4,240,388 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth about $365,933,000. Kodai Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth about $69,029,000. Natixis boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 830.2% in the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 589,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $78,795,000 after buying an additional 526,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 267.0% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 677,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $90,602,000 after buying an additional 493,164 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $166,305.23. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,087.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Global Payments Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Global Payments stock opened at $110.44 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $103.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.91. The company has a market cap of $28.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.98. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.60 and a 12-month high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 11.93%. Global Payments’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GPN shares. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $157.00 to $147.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Stephens cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.96.

Global Payments Profile

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.