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% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,544 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,375 shares during the period. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $2,975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GPN. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $825,000 after acquiring an additional 1,604 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 5,219 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $585,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $277,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 770.1% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,819 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 2,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Red Spruce Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 22,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,551,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Price Performance

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

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $105.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, April 18th. StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $86.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.43.

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.