Global Payments Inc. $GPN Shares Bought by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,161 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $6,739,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 32.6% during the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,050,253 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $884,462,000 after buying an additional 2,716,156 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 77.5% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 2,001,585 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $186,107,000 after buying an additional 874,175 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 2.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,955,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $191,451,000 after buying an additional 49,029 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,624,288 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $159,050,000 after buying an additional 9,755 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 6.1% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,458,570 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $140,402,000 after buying an additional 84,285 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE:GPN opened at $84.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.44 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $86.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.05. 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.47% and a net margin of 15.07%.Global Payments’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 17.48%.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $172,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Global Payments from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Global Payments from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Global Payments has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.75.

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.