Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Sold by Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co trimmed its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 0.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 120 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $2,289,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 54.5% during the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, North Star Investment Management Corp. grew its position in Global Payments by 154.7% in the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 354 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $124.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $152.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 21st. StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, William Blair raised Global Payments to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.59.

Global Payments Trading Up 1.5 %

GPN opened at $112.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.60 and a 52 week high of $141.77. The business’s 50 day moving average is $105.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.39. The firm has a market cap of $28.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.84%.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

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 stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $166,305.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,087.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.