Front Street Capital Management Inc. Has $6.44 Million Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Front Street Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 0.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 66,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 211 shares during the period. Global Payments comprises about 1.2% of Front Street Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Front Street Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $6,440,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Global Payments Stock Up 0.3 %

GPN opened at $110.99 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $105.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.88. 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 company has a market cap of $28.33 billion, a PE ratio of 22.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.98. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for 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 firm’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 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.07 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 19.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Global Payments from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. BNP Paribas raised Global Payments to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, William Blair raised Global Payments to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.59.

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.