Global Payments Inc. $GPN Stake Lessened by Bayforest Capital Ltd

Bayforest Capital Ltd lessened its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 22.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 966 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 274 shares during the quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $77,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 546.6% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 375 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the first quarter worth $37,000. LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 53.4% in the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 382 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the first quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 4,866.7% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 447 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on GPN shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Mizuho raised shares of Global Payments from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $86.00 to $114.00 in a report on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.75.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $172,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 30,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,641,318. This represents a 6.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Up 2.1%

Global Payments stock opened at $85.40 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $65.93 and a one year high of $120.00.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 12.47%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.48%.

Global Payments 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 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.