Credit Agricole S A Cuts Stake in Global Payments Inc. $GPN

Key Points

• Credit Agricole S A reduced its stake in Global Payments Inc. by 80.1% in the first quarter, holding 13,540 shares valued at $1.33 million.
• Analysts have upgraded Global Payments, with Mizuho raising their price target from $86 to $114 and maintaining a strong outlook, contributing to a consensus rating of "Hold" on the stock.
• Global Payments recently reported $3.10 earnings per share, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, reflecting a 1.6% increase year-over-year.

Credit Agricole S A decreased its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 80.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,540 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 54,369 shares during the period. Credit Agricole S A's holdings in Global Payments were worth $1,326,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $1,708,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 4,866.7% in the first 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 first quarter worth $685,000. Argyle Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 114.4% in the first 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. Finally, North Star Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 3.3% in the fourth 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of the company'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 transaction of $172,000.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 30,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,641,318. This represents a 6.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GPN shares. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $100.00 price target (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Evercore ISI upped 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 report on Friday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price 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. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $112.21.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Global Payments stock traded up $0.52 on Friday, reaching $88.74. The company had a trading volume of 677,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,767,096. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $82.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.48. The firm has a market cap of $21.53 billion, a PE ratio of 15.50, a PEG ratio of 0.84 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. Sell-side 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Global Payments's payout ratio is 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.