Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 2.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 299,137 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,078 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Global Payments worth $30,638,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. Stanley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 18.9% in the second quarter. Stanley Capital Management LLC now owns 125,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,146,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in Global Payments by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 267,483 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,775,000 after acquiring an additional 29,289 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the first quarter valued at $32,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 8.8% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 302,364 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,414,000 after acquiring an additional 24,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC grew its stake in Global Payments by 20.6% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 172,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,723,000 after purchasing an additional 29,503 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on GPN. Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays decreased their target price on Global Payments from $145.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded shares of Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Global Payments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $136.50.

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE GPN opened at $115.44 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $104.60 and its 200-day moving average is $103.46. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.60 and a 12-month high of $141.77. The company has a market capitalization of $29.38 billion, a PE ratio of 21.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.97.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

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.