Crestline Management LP Takes Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Crestline Management LP bought a new position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 62,279 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,979,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $330,516,000 after buying an additional 349,457 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $349,000. Oribel Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 495.1% in the fourth quarter. Oribel Capital Management LP now owns 521,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $58,417,000 after purchasing an additional 433,700 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,313 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 106.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 50,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,682,000 after purchasing an additional 26,104 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of GPN stock opened at $79.20 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $88.73 and a 200 day moving average of $102.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.93 and a 1-year high of $120.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.47 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.96.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 16.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Williams Trading set a $75.00 price target on Global Payments in a research report on Friday, April 18th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens lowered Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Global Payments has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.86.

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.