Global Payments Inc. $GPN Shares Acquired by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 92,797 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,390 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $7,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GPN. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 4,866.7% during 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 last quarter. Tradewinds LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the first quarter worth approximately $685,000. Argyle Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 114.4% during the first quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC now owns 18,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 9,768 shares during the last quarter. Malaga Cove Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 85.0% during the first quarter. Malaga Cove Capital LLC now owns 15,094 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,478,000 after purchasing an additional 6,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 1,828.3% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 45,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,498,000 after purchasing an additional 43,550 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Payments Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of GPN stock opened at $86.77 on Tuesday. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.93 and a fifty-two week high of $120.00. The stock has a market cap of $21.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.04. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.47% and a net margin of 15.07%.The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $172,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 30,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,641,318. This trade represents a 6.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GPN shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Global Payments from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. KeyCorp cut Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Global Payments from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.37.

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 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.