Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Bought by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 48.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 424,706 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 138,752 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.17% of Global Payments worth $41,069,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 54.5% in 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 last quarter. Finally, North Star Investment Management Corp. lifted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on GPN. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. BNP Paribas upgraded Global Payments to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Global Payments has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.59.

Global Payments Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of Global Payments stock opened at $110.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.96, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.98. 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 50 day moving average price of $105.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $110.13. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.60 and a 12-month high of $141.77.

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

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,087.63. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.