Global Payments Inc. $GPN Shares Sold by Front Street Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Front Street Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Global Payments Inc. by 5.7%, now holding 61,925 shares worth approximately $6,064,000, which constitutes 1.2% of its portfolio.
• Global Payments announced a quarterly dividend of **$0.25 per share**, set to be paid on September 26th, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.1%.
• The company recently reported $3.10 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing consensus estimates and showing a 1.6% year-over-year revenue growth.

Front Street Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 5.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 61,925 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,731 shares during the period. Global Payments accounts for about 1.2% of Front Street Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Front Street Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Global Payments were worth $6,064,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 546.6% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 375 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 4,866.7% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 447 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 30,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,641,318. The trade was a 6.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on GPN shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Global Payments from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Global Payments from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Global Payments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Mizuho upgraded shares of Global Payments from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $86.00 to $114.00 in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Global Payments from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nineteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $112.21.

Global Payments Stock Performance

GPN stock traded down $1.22 during trading on Friday, hitting $85.21. 380,686 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,734,395. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.93 and a 52 week high of $120.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $84.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.97.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Global Payments's payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

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.