Spears Abacus Advisors LLC Has $15.81 Million Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Spears Abacus Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 8.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 150,267 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,308 shares during the period. Global Payments makes up approximately 1.4% of Spears Abacus Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Spears Abacus Advisors LLC owned about 0.06% of Global Payments worth $15,814,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 6,546,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $688,995,000 after purchasing an additional 187,253 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,322,914 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $560,183,000 after purchasing an additional 791,610 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Global Payments by 24.3% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,850,885 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $401,070,000 after acquiring an additional 752,651 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Global Payments by 24.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,518,268 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $370,263,000 after acquiring an additional 698,913 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Global Payments by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,323,828 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $349,800,000 after acquiring an additional 50,467 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Global Payments news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 2,016 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.47, for a total value of $240,851.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,992,126.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Joshua J. Whipple sold 37,096 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.28, for a total transaction of $4,721,578.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,062,180.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 2,016 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.47, for a total transaction of $240,851.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,992,126.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Trading Down 0.0 %

GPN stock traded down $0.05 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $125.06. The company had a trading volume of 353,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,033,749. The company has a market cap of $32.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.69, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $92.27 and a 52 week high of $135.59. The business has a 50 day moving average of $118.63 and a 200 day moving average of $108.65.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.19. Global Payments had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 10.98%. The company had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 9.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 17th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $155.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $137.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.63.

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 three segments: Merchant Solutions, Issuer Solutions, and Consumer 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.