Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases 26,104 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 106.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 50,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,104 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $5,682,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,638,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $679,952,000 after purchasing an additional 215,399 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Global Payments by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $605,078,000 after buying an additional 31,934 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Global Payments by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $564,437,000 after purchasing an additional 83,481 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 349,457 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $271,090,000 after buying an additional 490,411 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $107.00 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $110.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $27.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.15, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $140.38.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 11.94%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America decreased their target price on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Global Payments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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.