AIA Group Ltd Purchases 3,928 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Key Points

• AIA Group Ltd has increased its holdings in Global Payments Inc. by 126.0%, now owning a total of 7,046 shares valued at approximately $690,000.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Global Payments, with an average target price of $112.21, indicating a generally cautious outlook despite recent performance.
• Global Payments recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, with an expected annual yield of 1.2%.

AIA Group Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 126.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,046 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,928 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd's holdings in Global Payments were worth $690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of GPN. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth $725,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,876 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,273,000 after purchasing an additional 6,740 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $53,700,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Global Payments by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 13,542 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,519,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 4,249 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Global Payments from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $100.00 price objective (up from $90.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $84.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $112.21.

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE:GPN traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $86.83. 2,167,859 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,658,856. The business's 50-day moving average price is $80.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.93. The company has a market cap of $21.07 billion, a PE ratio of 15.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.93. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.93 and a 12-month high of $120.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Global Payments news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the general counsel owned 30,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,641,318. The trade was a 6.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.