Northern Trust Corp Sells 14,900 Shares of Global Payments Inc. $GPN

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp has reduced its stake in Global Payments Inc. by 0.5%, currently owning approximately 1.11% of the company, valued at around $265.9 million after selling 14,900 shares.
• Multiple analysts have upgraded their ratings and target prices for Global Payments, with the average target now at $112.21, indicating a positive outlook for the stock.
• Global Payments recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, reflecting an annual yield of 1.2%, with a payout ratio of 17.48%.

Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,715,571 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 14,900 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.11% of Global Payments worth $265,909,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new position in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the first quarter worth $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Global Payments from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $100.00 price target (up from $90.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Wolfe Research reiterated a "peer perform" rating on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $112.21.

Global Payments Price Performance

Global Payments stock opened at $85.81 on Thursday. The stock's 50 day moving average is $81.05 and its 200 day moving average is $86.40. 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 $20.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other Global Payments 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 transaction of $172,000.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 30,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,641,318. This represents a 6.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Global Payments Company 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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