Dark Forest Capital Management LP Invests $4.92 Million in Global Payments Inc. $GPN

Key Points

• Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased 50,273 shares of Global Payments Inc. for approximately $4.9 million, indicating institutional interest in the company.
• Global Payments announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.1%.
• The company's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $3.10, exceeding analyst expectations, with a revenue of $2.36 billion, reflecting a 1.6% year-over-year increase.

Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 50,273 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,923,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in Global Payments in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Global Payments by 546.6% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 375 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in Global Payments in the 1st quarter worth $37,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Global Payments in the 1st quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Global Payments by 4,866.7% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 447 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $172,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 30,713 shares in the company, valued at $2,641,318. The trade was a 6.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GPN. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $100.00 target price (up from $90.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Global Payments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nineteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $112.21.

Global Payments Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE:GPN traded up $0.41 on Friday, reaching $87.69. 1,398,828 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,242,216. The company has a market capitalization of $21.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.93 and a 12 month high of $120.00. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $83.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.71.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 12.47%. Global Payments's revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Global Payments's payout ratio is currently 17.48%.

Global Payments Company Profile

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.