FORA Capital LLC Acquires New Position in Global Payments Inc. $GPN

FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 51,380 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,112,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Global Payments during the second quarter worth approximately $273,844,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,716,156 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 480.7% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,074,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $86,017,000 after acquiring an additional 889,590 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 77.5% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 2,001,585 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $186,107,000 after acquiring an additional 874,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 1st quarter valued at about $66,441,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $82.04 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business’s 50 day moving average is $80.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.61. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.93 and a 52-week high of $116.16. The firm has a market cap of $19.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.52, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.82.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued 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 yield of 1.2%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is 14.04%.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other news, Director Patricia A. Watson acquired 1,331 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $75.06 per share, for a total transaction of $99,904.86. Following the acquisition, the director owned 2,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,984.06. This trade represents a 100.83% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP David M. Sheffield sold 2,016 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total value of $164,122.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,175,397.58. This trade represents a 12.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 14,723 shares of company stock valued at $1,186,772 and sold 18,080 shares valued at $1,439,350. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Global Payments to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Citigroup raised shares of Global Payments to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Global Payments from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Global Payments from $90.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.29.

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.