Global Payments Inc. $GPN Holdings Boosted by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1,056.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 179,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 164,097 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned 0.07% of Global Payments worth $14,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LRI Investments LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 53.4% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 382 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Global Payments by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,320 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GPN shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of Global Payments to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Global Payments to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.37.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $172,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 30,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,641,318. The trade was a 6.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.7%

GPN stock opened at $86.77 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.93 and a 1 year high of $120.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.82. The firm has a market cap of $21.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.17, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.98.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.04. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 12.47%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. Global Payments’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

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.