Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Acquired by Personal CFO Solutions LLC

Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,762 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $272,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GPN shares. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $123.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $144.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer lifted 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. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a report on Friday, October 20th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Global Payments from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider David Lawrence Green sold 17,920 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.53, for a total transaction of $2,016,537.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 77,411 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,711,059.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider David Lawrence Green sold 17,920 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.53, for a total transaction of $2,016,537.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 77,411 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,711,059.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joshua J. Whipple sold 37,096 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 6th. The stock was 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 owns 39,772 shares in the company, valued at $5,062,180.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Global Payments stock opened at $113.38 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.72. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $92.27 and a 1-year high of $129.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $29.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.97.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 9.23% and a return on equity of 11.28%. The business had revenue of $2.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.37 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 9.76 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Investors of record on Friday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is currently 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.