Augustine Asset Management Inc. Sells 8,193 Shares of Global Payments Inc. $GPN

Key Points

• Augustine Asset Management Inc. sold 8,193 shares of Global Payments Inc. (GPN), reducing its stake by 16.5% to a total of 41,490 shares, valued at approximately $3.32 million.
• Global Payments reported earnings of $3.10 per share for the quarter, exceeding expectations slightly, while its revenue of $2.36 billion matched analyst estimates.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, yielding 1.2%, with a payout ratio of 17.48% based on its recent financial performance.

Augustine Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 16.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 41,490 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 8,193 shares during the period. Global Payments comprises approximately 0.9% of Augustine Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Augustine Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Global Payments were worth $3,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GPN. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth $725,000. Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new position in Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth $1,006,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new position in Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth $863,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 121.3% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 41,816 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,686,000 after buying an additional 22,920 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 354.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 740 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $103.75.

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 dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction 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 represents a 6.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $84.43 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $85.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.06. 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 has a market capitalization of $20.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.97. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.93 and a 12-month high of $120.00.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for 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%. The business's revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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