Global Payments Inc. $GPN Stake Increased by Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc.

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 268,153 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,882 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $26,258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at $1,708,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Global Payments by 4,866.7% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 447 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds LLC. acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the first quarter valued at $685,000. Argyle Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Global Payments by 114.4% during the first quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC now owns 18,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 9,768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, North Star Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Global Payments by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 282,933 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,705,000 after purchasing an additional 8,947 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.2%

Global Payments stock opened at $86.5650 on Wednesday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.00 billion, a PE ratio of 15.13, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.93. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.93 and a 52 week high of $120.00.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.04. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.47% and a net margin of 15.07%.The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued 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 is Friday, September 12th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the general counsel directly owned 30,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,641,318. The trade was a 6.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Global Payments from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Global Payments from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 target price (up from $90.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Wolfe Research restated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Global Payments from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.21.

Global Payments 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.