Old North State Trust LLC Has $42,000 Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Old North State Trust LLC lifted its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 717.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,864 shares during the quarter. Old North State Trust LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $42,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GPN. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 10.3% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,136 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $840,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Global Payments by 7.7% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,942 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $539,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Global Payments by 3.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,288,788 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $176,366,000 after buying an additional 48,605 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in Global Payments by 259.7% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 17,285 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,377,000 after buying an additional 12,479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the first quarter worth approximately $766,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE GPN opened at $124.35 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.45, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.97. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $92.27 and a twelve month high of $131.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $119.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 10.98% and a net margin of 8.65%. Global Payments’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.23 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 9.68 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 33.33%.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In related news, CFO Joshua J. Whipple sold 37,096 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.28, for a total value of $4,721,578.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,772 shares in the company, valued at $5,062,180.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Global Payments news, CFO Joshua J. Whipple sold 37,096 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,062,180.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 2,016 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.47, for a total value of $240,851.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,992,126.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GPN shares. B. Riley started coverage on Global Payments in a research report on Friday, June 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $179.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Global Payments from $128.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Mizuho upped their target price on Global Payments from $100.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Citigroup upped their target price on Global Payments from $137.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target on Global Payments from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $148.63.

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.