Atomi Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 17.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,572 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 529 shares during the quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth $365,933,000. Kodai Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth about $69,029,000. Natixis boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 830.2% in the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 589,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $78,795,000 after purchasing an additional 526,143 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 267.0% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 677,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,602,000 after buying an additional 493,164 shares during the period. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 27.8% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Global Payments from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $152.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price 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. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $129.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.71.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE:GPN traded down $0.80 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $109.18. 148,546 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,248,091. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a 50-day moving average of $99.94 and a 200 day moving average of $113.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.98. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.60 and a 1-year high of $141.77.

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

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.84%.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

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

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.