Cardinal Capital Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Cardinal Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 100,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 720 shares during the quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $9,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GPN. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $261,300,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 3,956.9% during the 1st quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 1,739,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $120,543,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,319 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth $131,733,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 101.5% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,256,929 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $224,158,000 after buying an additional 1,136,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Global Payments by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,055,514 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $303,474,000 after buying an additional 1,018,338 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on Global Payments from $137.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Global Payments from $126.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 22nd. B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of Global Payments in a report on Friday, June 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $179.00 price target on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $148.63.

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE GPN traded down $1.34 on Friday, reaching $124.34. 2,608,316 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,031,512. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $92.27 and a 12 month high of $131.05. The company has a market cap of $32.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $119.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

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

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 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.