Oak Thistle LLC Takes Position in Global Payments Inc. $GPN

Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $566,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. LRI Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 53.4% during the 2nd 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 period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Global Payments by 5.5% in the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 5.1% in 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 during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 0.5% in the second quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 33,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,688,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Samalin Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 4.8% in the second quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 4,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Down 1.6%

GPN stock opened at $80.80 on Friday. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.93 and a twelve month high of $115.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $79.48 and its 200-day moving average is $81.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.13 billion, a PE ratio of 11.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.82.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The business services provider reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.03. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 19.68%.The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.08 earnings per share. Global Payments has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.600-6.666 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect 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 issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.04%.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 10,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $81.42 per share, for a total transaction of $846,116.64. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 59,303 shares in the company, valued at $4,828,450.26. This trade represents a 21.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP David M. Sheffield sold 2,016 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total transaction of $164,122.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,175,397.58. The trade was a 12.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 14,723 shares of company stock valued at $1,186,772 and sold 18,080 shares valued at $1,439,350. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp cut shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Global Payments to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $90.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Citigroup raised Global Payments to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.29.

Global Payments Profile

Global Payments Inc (NYSE: GPN) is a worldwide provider of payment technology and software solutions that enables commerce for merchants, issuers and enterprises. The company develops and operates payment processing networks, point-of-sale systems and cloud-based software that facilitate electronic transactions across in-store, online and mobile channels. Its services span merchant acquiring, payment gateway services, omnichannel commerce platforms, and solutions for recurring and subscription billing.

Global Payments offers a range of products and services including integrated payment terminals and point-of-sale software, e-commerce and gateway technologies, fraud prevention and tokenization tools, and business analytics and reporting.