Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 74,376 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 16.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 524,060 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 74,376 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.21% of Global Payments worth $70,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its position in Global Payments by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 564 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $210,000. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. increased its stake in Global Payments by 35.4% in the fourth quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 46,953 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,963,000 after purchasing an additional 12,273 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp increased its stake in Global Payments by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 82,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,499,000 after purchasing an additional 18,615 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Global Payments by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 255,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,064,000 after purchasing an additional 15,655 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Up 3.6 %

NYSE GPN traded up $3.61 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $103.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,787,392 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,333,549. 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 company has a market cap of $26.32 billion, a PE ratio of 20.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.13. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 13.40%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 19.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Andrea M. Carter sold 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.34, for a total transaction of $367,422.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,209 shares in the company, valued at $2,806,770.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $172.00 target price on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Global Payments from $143.00 to $128.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Global Payments from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Susquehanna cut their price target on Global Payments from $160.00 to $157.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Global Payments from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.32.

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.