Global Payments Inc. $GPN Shares Sold by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Global Payments by 9.6%, holding 81,179 shares valued at approximately $7,949,000 after selling 8,609 shares in the first quarter.
• Analysts continue to hold a bullish outlook on Global Payments, with multiple firms upgrading their price targets and stating a consensus price target of $112.21.
• Global Payments recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, with an upcoming payment date of September 26th, representing a 1.1% yield.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 9.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 81,179 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 8,609 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Global Payments were worth $7,949,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new position in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 546.6% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 375 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Trading Down 2.0%

NYSE:GPN opened at $87.08 on Wednesday. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.93 and a 12 month high of $120.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $21.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.22, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.97.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Global Payments's payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 30,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,641,318. This trade represents a 6.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPN has been the subject of a number of research reports. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Global Payments from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. TD Cowen lowered Global Payments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Global Payments from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Mizuho raised 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. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $112.21.

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.