1832 Asset Management L.P. Boosts Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 731,682.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 204,899 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 204,871 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. owned about 0.08% of Global Payments worth $19,814,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 54.5% in the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, North Star Investment Management Corp. increased 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 purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GPN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Global Payments from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $152.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. William Blair raised shares of Global Payments to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.59.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:GPN opened at $110.99 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $28.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.02, 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $105.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.88. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.60 and a 52 week high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued 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 business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.48 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the 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 owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,087.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments 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.