Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC Purchases 3,854 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 255.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,362 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,854 shares during the period. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 194.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,423,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $621,149,000 after acquiring an additional 4,240,388 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at about $365,933,000. Kodai Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at about $69,029,000. Natixis grew its position in Global Payments by 830.2% during the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 589,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $78,795,000 after acquiring an additional 526,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 267.0% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 677,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $90,602,000 after buying an additional 493,164 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $111.05 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.26 billion, a PE ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $104.27 and a 200-day moving average of $110.49. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 11.93%. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.07 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GPN shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Global Payments from $172.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Global Payments from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Stephens decreased their price target on Global Payments from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, William Blair raised Global Payments to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $166,305.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.