North Star Asset Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Key Points

• North Star Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Global Payments Inc. by 2.9%, bringing its total shares to 291,101, making it the fund's 21st largest holding.
• Global Payments recently reported a Q1 EPS of $2.82, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.73, with revenue of $2.20 billion stable compared to last year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, translating to an annual yield of 1.20% and indicating a dividend payout ratio of 16.13%.

North Star Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 2.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 291,101 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,168 shares during the quarter. Global Payments comprises about 1.3% of North Star Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. North Star Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.12% of Global Payments worth $28,505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 75,379.7% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,517,141 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $148,558,000 after purchasing an additional 1,515,131 shares during the period. Contour Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth about $147,695,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 40.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,656,830 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $185,664,000 after acquiring an additional 479,791 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,700,000. Finally, Oribel Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 495.1% during the 4th quarter. Oribel Capital Management LP now owns 521,300 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $58,417,000 after acquiring an additional 433,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GPN shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $105.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Global Payments from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $86.00 to $114.00 in a research report on Friday, July 25th. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research restated a "peer perform" rating on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Global Payments currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $111.65.

Global Payments Stock Down 1.8%

Global Payments stock traded down $1.49 on Thursday, hitting $79.95. 1,762,006 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,024,258. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $19.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.94. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $79.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.94. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.93 and a 1 year high of $120.00.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.73 by $0.09. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.33% and a net margin of 15.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.59 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Global Payments's payout ratio is currently 16.13%.

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.