Amundi Boosts Holdings in Global Payments Inc. $GPN

Key Points

• Amundi significantly increased its stake in Global Payments Inc. by 77.5%, owning over 2 million shares valued at approximately $186 million as of the last quarter.
• Analysts are optimistic about Global Payments, with multiple investment firms raising their price targets and many maintaining a "Buy" or "Hold" rating, indicating a generally positive outlook.
• Global Payments announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25, translating to an annualized dividend of $1.00 and a yield of 1.1%, reinforcing its commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Amundi grew its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 77.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,001,585 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 874,175 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned approximately 0.82% of Global Payments worth $186,107,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GPN. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 1st quarter worth approximately $685,000. Argyle Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 114.4% in the 1st quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC now owns 18,305 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,792,000 after buying an additional 9,768 shares during the last quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 282,933 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,705,000 after buying an additional 8,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Malaga Cove Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 85.0% in the 1st quarter. Malaga Cove Capital LLC now owns 15,094 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,478,000 after buying an additional 6,933 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,641,318. The trade was a 6.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE GPN traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $87.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,782,257 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,754,552. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $83.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.41. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $21.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.96.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last posted 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GPN. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $100.00 target price (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. TD Cowen cut shares of Global Payments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nineteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Global Payments has an average 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.