Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $46.27 Million Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 35.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 469,642 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 124,115 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $46,268,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth about $261,300,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 3,956.9% in the first quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 1,739,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $120,543,000 after acquiring an additional 1,696,319 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth about $131,733,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,055,514 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $303,474,000 after acquiring an additional 1,018,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the first quarter worth about $97,583,000. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other news, insider David Lawrence Green sold 17,920 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.53, for a total transaction of $2,016,537.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 77,411 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,711,059.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Joshua J. Whipple sold 37,096 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.28, for a total value of $4,721,578.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,062,180.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider David Lawrence Green sold 17,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.53, for a total value of $2,016,537.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 77,411 shares in the company, valued at $8,711,059.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GPN. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 9th. Credit Suisse Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a report on Friday, September 8th. Stephens raised their price objective 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, Truist Financial raised their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.85.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $112.05 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $111.58. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $92.27 and a 1-year high of $129.70. The stock has a market cap of $29.18 billion, a PE ratio of 33.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.97.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 31st. The business services provider reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.20. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.28% and a net margin of 9.23%. The business had revenue of $2.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.37 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 9.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 29.94%.

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.