Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Acquired by Davis Asset Management L.P.

Davis Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 18.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,300,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 200,000 shares during the period. Global Payments accounts for about 5.6% of Davis Asset Management L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Davis Asset Management L.P. owned 0.51% of Global Payments worth $125,710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GPN. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 194.2% in the second 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. Kodai Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,029,000. Natixis lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 830.2% in the first 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. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 267.0% in the first 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. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments in the first quarter valued at approximately $47,094,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. William Blair upgraded Global Payments to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Global Payments from $172.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. TD Cowen decreased their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Global Payments news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now 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 accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE:GPN opened at $110.69 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.25 billion, a PE ratio of 21.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $105.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $110.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $141.77.

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

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. 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 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.