ProShare Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 73.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 58,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,707 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $6,117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GPN. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Global Payments by 10.3% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,136 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted 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 purchasing an additional 48,605 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 259.7% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 17,285 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,377,000 after acquiring an additional 12,479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the first quarter worth $766,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GPN shares. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Global Payments from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Global Payments from $208.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Raymond James cut their price target on Global Payments from $156.00 to $155.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on Global Payments from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a report on Friday, September 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.63.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $124.34 on Monday. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $92.27 and a 1-year high of $131.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $120.29 and a 200-day moving average of $109.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. 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 (NYSE:GPN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.19. Global Payments had a return on equity of 10.98% and a net margin of 8.65%. The company had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 9.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

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.