Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Decreases Stake in Global Payments Inc. $GPN

Key Points

• Lecap Asset Management Ltd. has significantly reduced its stake in Global Payments Inc. by 77.1%, now owning only 6,217 shares after selling 20,921 shares in the second quarter.
• Global Payments reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $3.10, exceeding the consensus estimate of $3.06, with a revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter.
• The company's stock has seen price target adjustments by several brokerages, with significant upgrades, including a target increase from $90.00 to $100.00 by KeyCorp.

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 77.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,217 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 20,921 shares during the quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Global Payments were worth $498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Global Payments during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 546.6% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 375 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in Global Payments in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Global Payments in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Global Payments by 4,866.7% during the first 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $86.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $21.01 billion, a PE ratio of 15.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.98. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.93 and a 12 month 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 has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.83.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 12.47%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GPN. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $100.00 price target (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Global Payments from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Global Payments from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $114.00 in a research report on Friday, July 25th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Global Payments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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 on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $172,000.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

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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