Redwood Investments LLC Makes New $774,000 Investment in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Redwood Investments LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,098 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $774,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Global Payments by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 17,722 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,251,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 3,068 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 148,362 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,842,000 after acquiring an additional 9,643 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Global Payments by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 19,439 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,469,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Global Payments stock traded up $1.89 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $133.66. 2,350,090 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,550,695. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $95.12 and a 12 month high of $141.77. The firm has a market cap of $34.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.36, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $133.07 and a 200 day moving average of $123.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.01. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 10.22%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. Global Payments’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $154.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. B. Riley upped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Susquehanna boosted 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. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, Global Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $151.92.

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.