BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Increases Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 154.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 54,621 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,176 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $5,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in Global Payments by 18.8% during the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 524 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Global Payments by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,752 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $635,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its position in Global Payments by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 453 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% during the first quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 34,435 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,603,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GPN shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $124.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Stephens decreased their target price on Global Payments from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Global Payments from $129.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.71.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.1 %

GPN opened at $111.01 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.60 and a 52 week high of $141.77. The business’s 50 day moving average is $101.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.63. The firm has a market cap of $28.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.98.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.09 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Global Payments news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $166,305.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

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.