Stanley Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Stanley Capital Management LLC raised its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 125,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the quarter. Global Payments comprises about 2.5% of Stanley Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Stanley Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $12,146,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GPN. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in Global Payments in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in Global Payments in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its holdings in Global Payments by 154.7% during 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 period. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Global Payments from $172.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. BNP Paribas upgraded Global Payments to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $152.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, William Blair raised shares of Global Payments to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eighteen have given 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 price target of $142.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Global Payments news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Global Payments stock opened at $110.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average 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. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $141.77. The company has a market capitalization 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 (NYSE:GPN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. Global Payments’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is 19.84%.

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.