Global Payments Inc. $GPN Stock Sold by Gradient Investments LLC

Key Points

• Gradient Investments cut its Global Payments stake by 46% in the third quarter, selling 20,979 shares and retaining 24,586 shares valued at approximately $2.0 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 89.76% of GPN.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with 11 Buy, 17 Hold and 3 Sell ratings. The stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $95.21.
• Global Payments reported quarterly revenue of $3.16 billion and adjusted EPS of $3.46, narrowly exceeding estimates, while revenue increased 68.6% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, equivalent to a 1.2% annual yield.

Gradient Investments LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 46.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,586 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 20,979 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC's holdings in Global Payments were worth $2,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GPN. Gtcr LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,911,939,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 40.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 912,590 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $65,864,000 after acquiring an additional 260,606 shares in the last quarter. Lone Peak Global Investors LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Lone Peak Global Investors LLC now owns 326,833 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $23,715,000 after acquiring an additional 18,711 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,431,107 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $110,768,000 after purchasing an additional 227,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 4.1% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,495,339 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $108,502,000 after purchasing an additional 58,960 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on GPN shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Global Payments from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Global Payments from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Barclays set a $89.00 target price on Global Payments and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Global Payments from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $95.21.

Global Payments Trading Down 0.7%

GPN stock opened at $82.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $87.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.19. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.16 and a 52 week high of $95.88. The company has a market capitalization of $21.75 billion, a PE ratio of -27.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.80.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The business services provider reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.16 billion. Global Payments had a negative net margin of 9.16% and a positive return on equity of 13.80%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 68.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.10 earnings per share. Global Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.600-13.800 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 13.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -33.56%.

Global Payments Profile

Global Payments Inc NYSE: GPN is a payments technology and software company that provides payment processing and related services to merchants, financial institutions and other organizations. Its offerings help businesses accept payments through credit cards, debit cards, digital wallets and other channels, both in physical locations and online.

The company provides point-of-sale systems, payment processing, commerce software, fraud prevention, analytics and other business-management tools.

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