Sheets Smith Wealth Management Takes Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management bought a new stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,433 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $459,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Global Payments by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,087,801 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $646,151,000 after buying an additional 132,635 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Global Payments by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,980,048 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $379,777,000 after buying an additional 76,606 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth approximately $365,933,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 27.8% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,192,227 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $278,413,000 after buying an additional 477,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Capital Management LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Glenview Capital Management LLC now owns 1,948,128 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $247,412,000 after buying an additional 100,993 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE GPN traded up $0.41 on Wednesday, reaching $103.52. The company had a trading volume of 2,370,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,333,830. The firm has a market cap of $26.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.98. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. The business has a 50 day moving average of $99.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $118.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.09 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Global Payments news, VP Andrea M. Carter sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $2,806,770.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Global Payments from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho cut their target price on Global Payments from $129.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. KeyCorp cut their target price on Global Payments from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Global Payments from $182.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.32.

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.