Aberdeen Group plc Buys 8,347 Shares of Global Payments Inc. $GPN

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Global Payments Inc. by 4.6% in the second quarter, acquiring an additional 8,347 shares, bringing its total holdings to approximately $15 million.
• Insider transactions revealed that General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares at $86 each, resulting in a 6.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock.
• Global Payments reported a $3.10 earnings per share for the recent quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share.

Aberdeen Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 4.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 188,107 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,347 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.08% of Global Payments worth $15,056,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 422,046 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $33,781,000 after purchasing an additional 17,980 shares during the period. Thompson Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,736 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,220,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 22.1% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,089 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the period. Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 4,953 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Creek Financial Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 54.8% during the 2nd quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 3,368 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192 shares during the period. 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 the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $172,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 30,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,641,318. The trade was a 6.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Stock Up 2.6%

GPN stock opened at $86.44 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.97 billion, a PE ratio of 15.11, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.98. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.93 and a twelve month high of $120.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.08.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.47% and a net margin of 15.07%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Global Payments's payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Global Payments from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Global Payments from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Global Payments from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $103.75.

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.

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