First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 94,521 Shares of Global Payments Inc. $GPN

First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 22.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 516,419 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 94,521 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.22% of Global Payments worth $42,904,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. North Star Investment Management Corp. increased its position in Global Payments by 242.2% in the third quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the third quarter valued at $27,000. SouthState Bank Corp bought a new position in Global Payments during the third quarter valued at $28,000. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Global Payments during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Price Performance

Global Payments stock opened at $70.30 on Friday. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.93 and a 12-month high of $100.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $74.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.68 billion, a PE ratio of 12.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.73.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $0.02. Global Payments had a net margin of 16.92% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.85 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Global Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.800-14.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $97.00 target price (up from $95.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $88.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.36.

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.