Franklin Resources Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 83,481 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $564,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the second quarter worth $32,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 59.6% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 383 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its position in Global Payments by 134.4% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 511 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen cut their price target on Global Payments from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Global Payments from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Global Payments from $126.00 to $122.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.41.

Global Payments Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $114.24 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.53. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $141.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.07 billion, a PE ratio of 21.51, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.00.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.