Global Payments Inc. $GPN Shares Sold by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. lowered its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 31.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,108 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,936 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $1,369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 92,797 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,427,000 after buying an additional 11,390 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 10.1% in the second quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 10,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $818,000 after acquiring an additional 941 shares during the last quarter. BIP Wealth LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 6.9% in the second quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 11,965 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $958,000 after acquiring an additional 777 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Global Payments by 0.7% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 622,196 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $49,801,000 after acquiring an additional 4,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych raised its position in Global Payments by 2.9% in the second quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 7,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $576,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE GPN opened at $78.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $19.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.78. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $65.93 and a one year high of $120.00.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $172,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 30,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,641,318. This trade represents a 6.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen downgraded Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Mizuho raised shares of Global Payments from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $86.00 to $114.00 in a research note on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.37.

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.