Synovus Financial Corp Has $732.47 Million Holdings in Global Payments Inc. $GPN

Key Points

• Synovus Financial Corp holds a $732.47 million position in Global Payments Inc., representing 9.5% of its investment portfolio.
• Global Payments announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, with a 1.1% dividend yield, to be paid on September 26th.
• Wall Street analysts maintain a mix of ratings for Global Payments, with a target price average of $112.21 and a consensus rating leaning towards "Hold."

Synovus Financial Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,480,262 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 37,337 shares during the quarter. Global Payments accounts for approximately 9.5% of Synovus Financial Corp's portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Synovus Financial Corp owned about 3.07% of Global Payments worth $732,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new stake in Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 546.6% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 375 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE:GPN traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $88.35. The stock had a trading volume of 1,416,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,779,938. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 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 Inc. has a one year low of $65.93 and a one year high of $120.00.

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

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Global Payments from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $100.00 price objective (up from $90.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $112.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In related news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $172,000.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly 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 through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

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.