Global Payments Inc. $GPN Holdings Boosted by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 0.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,393,019 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,108 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.64% of Global Payments worth $1,872,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in Global Payments during the first quarter valued at $37,000. LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in Global Payments by 53.4% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 382 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Global Payments during the 1st quarter valued at about $42,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 1st quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the second quarter worth approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Patricia A. Watson bought 1,331 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 purchase, the director owned 2,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,984.06. This represents a 100.83% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Connie D. Mcdaniel sold 4,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.81, for a total value of $347,343.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 30,014 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,335,389.34. This represents a 12.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Trading Up 2.8%

Global Payments stock opened at $73.45 on Friday. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $65.93 and a one year high of $120.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $82.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.75. 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 company has a market capitalization of $17.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.95.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The business services provider reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.41 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.47% and a net margin of 15.07%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.08 EPS. Global Payments has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.600-6.666 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on GPN. Citigroup raised shares of Global Payments to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $90.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. KeyCorp lowered Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Global Payments from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.90.

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.