50,273 Shares in Global Payments Inc. $GPN Acquired by Dark Forest Capital Management LP

Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 50,273 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,923,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Chiron Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Chiron Capital Management LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 258,964 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,358,000 after purchasing an additional 9,809 shares during the last quarter. LGL Partners LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments in the 1st quarter valued at $643,000. Contour Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Global Payments by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC now owns 1,394,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $136,533,000 after acquiring an additional 76,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Global Payments by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 4,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $428,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $88.88 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.56 billion, a PE ratio of 15.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The business has a 50-day moving average of $82.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.94. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.93 and a 12 month high of $120.00.

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

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Global Payments from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Global Payments from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Global Payments from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Global Payments from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.21.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In related news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of the 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 sale, the general counsel directly owned 30,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,641,318. This represents a 6.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

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.