Southeast Asset Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. $GPN

Southeast Asset Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 54.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,407 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 53.4% in 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 during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake 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 valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Global Payments by 5.1% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,320 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its stake in Global Payments by 4.1% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 4,342 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WESCAP Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. WESCAP Management Group Inc. now owns 7,102 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $695,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on GPN. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Global Payments in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Global Payments from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Global Payments from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Global Payments news, Director Connie D. Mcdaniel sold 4,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.81, for a total value of $347,343.84. Following the sale, the director owned 30,014 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,335,389.34. The trade was a 12.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Patricia A. Watson acquired 1,331 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $75.06 per share, with a total value of $99,904.86. Following the purchase, the director owned 2,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,984.06. This represents a 100.83% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.9%

GPN stock opened at $72.86 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $82.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.74. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.93 and a 52-week high of $120.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The business services provider reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.03. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.47% and a net margin of 15.07%.The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.08 EPS. Global Payments has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.600-6.666 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is currently 14.04%.

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.