Aigen Investment Management LP Makes New Investment in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Key Points

• Aigen Investment Management LP purchased 8,107 shares of Global Payments Inc. valued at approximately $794,000, marking a new position for the firm during the first quarter.
• Insider activity included General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin selling 2,000 shares for $172,000, reducing their stake by 6.11%.
• Global Payments announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, representing a 1.2% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 17.48%.

Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 8,107 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $794,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GPN. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 75,379.7% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,517,141 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $148,558,000 after buying an additional 1,515,131 shares during the period. Contour Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $147,695,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Global Payments by 346.9% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 912,667 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $89,368,000 after purchasing an additional 708,451 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 40.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,656,830 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $185,664,000 after purchasing an additional 479,791 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $53,700,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 6.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Global Payments Price Performance

GPN stock traded down $0.36 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $86.83. The company had a trading volume of 2,167,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,658,856. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.93 and a 1 year high of $120.00. The company has a market capitalization of $21.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $80.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.93.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.04. The firm 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%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on GPN. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $105.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Williams Trading set a $75.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a report on Friday, April 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Global Payments from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, April 18th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Global Payments from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $86.00 to $114.00 in a report on Friday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $112.21.

Global Payments 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.