Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Has $2.11 Million Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 14.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,724 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $2,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GPN. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 194.2% during 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 buying an additional 4,240,388 shares in the last quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth $69,029,000. Natixis grew its position in Global Payments by 830.2% during the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 589,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $78,795,000 after acquiring an additional 526,143 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 267.0% during the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 677,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $90,602,000 after acquiring an additional 493,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments during the 1st quarter worth $47,094,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GPN. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $147.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on Global Payments from $152.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.59.

Global Payments Stock Up 1.5 %

GPN stock opened at $112.97 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.39. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $28.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.98.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 14.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.48 earnings per share. On average, research 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.84%.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

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

Global Payments Company 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.