Global Payments Inc. $GPN Shares Acquired by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 36.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 421,898 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 112,895 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $33,769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the 2nd quarter valued at about $273,844,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 32.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,050,253 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $884,462,000 after purchasing an additional 2,716,156 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the first quarter valued at approximately $94,107,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 77.5% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 2,001,585 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $186,107,000 after buying an additional 874,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Global Payments during the first quarter worth approximately $66,441,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup upgraded Global Payments to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Global Payments to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.29.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, Director Connie D. Mcdaniel sold 4,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.81, for a total value of $347,343.84. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 30,014 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,335,389.34. This represents a 12.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider David Lawrence Green sold 11,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.99, for a total value of $927,884.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 68,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,446,999.04. This trade represents a 14.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Global Payments Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:GPN opened at $77.50 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $18.35 billion, a PE ratio of 10.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.82. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.93 and a fifty-two week high of $117.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $80.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.52.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The business services provider reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.03. Global Payments had a net margin of 19.68% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.08 earnings per share. Global Payments has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.600-6.666 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is currently 14.04%.

Global Payments Company 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.