Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $4.14 Million Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,945 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,844 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $4,140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Global Payments by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $330,516,000 after buying an additional 349,457 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $203,047,000 after acquiring an additional 785,539 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $562,000. Caprock Group LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,313 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Global Payments by 106.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 50,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,682,000 after purchasing an additional 26,104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price objective (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stephens cut shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Global Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.33.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.3 %

Global Payments stock opened at $93.01 on Thursday. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.99 and a fifty-two week high of $140.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.05, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $106.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.40.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

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.