Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Bought by Poplar Forest Capital LLC

Poplar Forest Capital LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 22.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 158,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 29,370 shares during the quarter. Global Payments makes up 3.3% of Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $17,717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. LRI Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 94.4% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 517 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 177.5% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price objective (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE GPN opened at $105.51 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $91.60 and a one year high of $140.38. The firm has a market cap of $26.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.07, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 16.18%.

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.