Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Sees Strong Trading Volume

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) shares saw strong trading volume on Tuesday . 4,527,859 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 105% from the previous session’s volume of 2,204,823 shares.The stock last traded at $104.74 and had previously closed at $110.98.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GPN. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $124.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $152.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $147.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.59.

Global Payments Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $105.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.88. The company has a market cap of $26.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is 19.84%.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GPN. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake 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 during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 188.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $109,857,000 after acquiring an additional 755,898 shares during the last quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at about $69,029,000. Natixis increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 830.2% in the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 589,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $78,795,000 after acquiring an additional 526,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $90,602,000 after acquiring an additional 493,164 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.