Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. Has $44.55 Million Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. $GPN

Key Points

• Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. increased its stake in Global Payments Inc. by 51.9% in Q2, holding approximately 556,578 shares valued at $44.55 million.
• Global Payments announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, yielding 1.2%, with the ex-dividend date having occurred on September 12th.
• Analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Hold" on Global Payments, with price target estimates ranging from $90 to $114.

Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. lifted its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 51.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 556,578 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 190,189 shares during the quarter. Global Payments comprises 2.6% of Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. owned approximately 0.23% of Global Payments worth $44,549,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GPN. LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 53.4% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 382 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Global Payments by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,932 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Global Payments by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in Global Payments by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $242,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Global Payments by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,320 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Global Payments from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. TD Cowen cut Global Payments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Mizuho upgraded Global Payments from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $86.00 to $114.00 in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Global Payments from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $103.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was 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 approximately $2,641,318. This represents a 6.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $82.89 on Monday. 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 stock's fifty day moving average price is $85.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.14. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $65.93 and a one year high of $120.00. The firm has a market cap of $20.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.98.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.04. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.47% and a net margin of 15.07%.The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. Global Payments's dividend 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.

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