Discovery Capital Management LLC CT Makes New $30.74 Million Investment in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Discovery Capital Management LLC CT purchased a new stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 274,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $30,738,000. Global Payments comprises 2.1% of Discovery Capital Management LLC CT’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT owned about 0.11% of Global Payments as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB grew 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 valued at $330,516,000 after buying an additional 349,457 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,313 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Global Payments by 106.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 50,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,682,000 after acquiring an additional 26,104 shares during the period. Focused Investors LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at $99,969,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,614,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $180,925,000 after purchasing an additional 72,992 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of Global Payments stock opened at $98.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.25. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.99 and a fifty-two week high of $133.63. The firm has a market cap of $24.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is presently 16.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GPN shares. 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Global Payments from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Stephens lowered shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.10.

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.