Kestra Advisory Services LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. $GPN

Key Points

• Kestra Advisory Services LLC has reduced its stake in Global Payments Inc. by 21.4%, now holding 12,139 shares worth approximately $1.19 million.
• Global Payments announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25, marking an annualized dividend yield of 1.1% and a payout ratio of 17.48%.
• A number of analysts recently adjusted their ratings on Global Payments, including Mizuho, which upgraded the stock from "neutral" to "outperform," raising the price target from $86.00 to $114.00.

Kestra Advisory Services LLC trimmed its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 21.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,139 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,307 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Global Payments were worth $1,189,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norinchukin Bank The boosted its position in Global Payments by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 13,436 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,316,000 after buying an additional 1,615 shares during the period. CW Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 174.5% in the 1st quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 7,933 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $780,000 after purchasing an additional 5,043 shares in the last quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 120.2% in the 1st quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 74,663 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,300,000 after purchasing an additional 40,761 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 268,153 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,258,000 after purchasing an additional 3,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 1st quarter valued at about $176,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. TD Cowen lowered 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 price objective 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. Mizuho upgraded shares of Global Payments from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $86.00 to $114.00 in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $112.21.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE:GPN traded down $0.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $86.68. 2,404,109 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,770,123. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.15, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.97. 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 current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company's 50 day moving average price is $83.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.96.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last released 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. 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 for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of the company's 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.