UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Raises Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 311.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,502 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,949 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $1,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Global Payments by 23.0% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 888 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Elevatus Welath Management boosted its stake in Global Payments by 85.1% during the first quarter. Elevatus Welath Management now owns 66,140 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,840,000 after acquiring an additional 30,409 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments during the first quarter worth about $166,000. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the first quarter worth about $210,000. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments during the first quarter valued at approximately $11,853,000. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other Global Payments 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 transaction, the vice president now 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 this link. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho cut their price target on Global Payments from $129.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Global Payments from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $128.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $182.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Global Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.32.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $99.91. 1,843,819 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,324,196. The stock has a market cap of $25.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.82, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $98.94 and a 200-day moving average of $118.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.60 and a 52 week high of $141.77.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.84%.

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.