Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. Purchases 10,009 Shares of Global Payments Inc. $GPN

Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. lifted its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 376,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,009 shares during the quarter. Global Payments comprises approximately 2.1% of Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $30,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LRI Investments LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 53.4% during 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 in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $242,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 5.1% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,320 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 4.1% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 4,342 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WESCAP Management Group Inc. raised its stake in Global Payments by 2.5% in the first quarter. WESCAP Management Group Inc. now owns 7,102 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $695,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Citigroup raised Global Payments to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Global Payments from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Global Payments from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.10.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Patricia A. Watson purchased 1,331 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $75.06 per share, for a total transaction of $99,904.86. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,651 shares in the company, valued at $198,984.06. This represents a 100.83% increase in their position. The purchase 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.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $75.47 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $84.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.98. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.93 and a 52-week high of $120.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.95.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The business services provider reported $3.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.41 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.47% and a net margin of 15.07%.During the same period last year, the company earned $3.08 earnings per share. Global Payments has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.600-6.666 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.04%.

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.