AlphaQuest LLC Boosts Holdings in Global Payments Inc. $GPN

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC significantly increased its stake in Global Payments Inc. by 1,136.5%, acquiring an additional 17,002 shares, bringing its total holdings to 18,498 shares valued at approximately $1.81 million.
• Global Payments recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $3.10, exceeding the consensus estimate by $0.04, with a revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, with a yield of 1.1%, indicating a dividend payout ratio of 17.48%.

AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 1,136.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,498 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 17,002 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in Global Payments were worth $1,811,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GPN. Norinchukin Bank The raised its holdings in Global Payments by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 13,436 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,316,000 after buying an additional 1,615 shares during the period. CW Advisors LLC increased its position in Global Payments by 174.5% during the first quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 7,933 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $780,000 after acquiring an additional 5,043 shares during the last quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 120.2% in the first quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 74,663 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,300,000 after acquiring an additional 40,761 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 268,153 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,258,000 after acquiring an additional 3,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 1st quarter worth about $176,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $172,000.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 30,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,641,318. This trade represents a 6.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Global Payments stock traded down $0.24 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $87.99. 1,641,327 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,788,298. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $82.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.61. The firm has a market cap of $21.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.93. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.93 and a 52-week high of $120.00.

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

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Mizuho upgraded Global Payments from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $86.00 to $114.00 in a report on Friday, July 25th. TD Cowen cut Global Payments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Global Payments from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $100.00 target price (up from $90.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $112.21.

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.