Nomura Holdings Inc. Has $6.63 Million Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 101.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 52,204 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 26,306 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $6,630,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 15.6% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 23,561 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,727,000 after purchasing an additional 3,176 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 52,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,075,000 after acquiring an additional 2,106 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 21.1% in the third quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,758 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,588,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397 shares during the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP raised its holdings in Global Payments by 0.6% during the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 91,414 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,548,000 after acquiring an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Global Payments during the third quarter valued at approximately $229,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other news, VP Andrea M. Carter sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.34, for a total transaction of $367,422.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,209 shares in the company, valued at $2,806,770.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on GPN shares. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $160.00 to $152.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Global Payments from $158.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Global Payments from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.36.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $92.19 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $109.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.60 and a 1 year high of $141.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.98.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.17 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 13.40%. As a group, research analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is 19.84%.

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.