Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Investment House LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 27.0% in the second quarter. Investment House LLC now owns 90,650 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,766,000 after purchasing an additional 19,297 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the second quarter worth $444,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 108.4% during the second quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 15,636 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,512,000 after buying an additional 8,132 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 20.6% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 172,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,723,000 after buying an additional 29,503 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 3.3% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,752 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,040,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $166,305.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE GPN traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $109.54. 146,188 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,278,745. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $141.77. The company has a market capitalization of $27.96 billion, a PE ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $98.97 and its 200-day moving average is $113.76.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.03. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.48 EPS. Global Payments’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GPN shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $182.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $129.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $124.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $152.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.48.

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.