MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. Acquires 1,375 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,544 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,375 shares during the quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $2,975,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AIA Group Ltd bought a new position in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at $349,000. Oribel Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 495.1% during 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 9.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $5,682,000 after purchasing an additional 26,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focused Investors LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at $99,969,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Global Payments from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Monday, April 21st. Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Williams Trading set a $75.00 target price on Global Payments in a report on Friday, April 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.43.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE:GPN opened at $79.69 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.93 and a 12-month high of $120.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.96.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.73 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The firm’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.59 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.13%.

Global Payments 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.