Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Trims Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. $GPN

Key Points

• Wedge Capital Management trimmed its stake in Global Payments by 23.9% in Q4, selling 20,571 shares and ending the period with 65,613 shares valued at about $5.08 million.
• Several large institutions (including Norges Bank, Balyasny, Assenagon, National Bank of Canada and HSBC) significantly increased positions, leaving institutional ownership at about 89.76%.
• Shares are down ~5.7% (opened at $65.96); the company slightly beat EPS expectations ($3.18 vs $3.16), set FY2026 guidance of $13.80–$14.00, declared a $0.25 quarterly dividend (1.5% yield), and carries a consensus analyst rating of "Hold" with a $91.18 target.

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC trimmed its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 23.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 65,613 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 20,571 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in Global Payments were worth $5,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 2nd quarter valued at $273,844,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Global Payments by 112.3% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,281,476 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $189,545,000 after buying an additional 1,206,807 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Global Payments by 117.3% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,207,277 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $93,443,000 after buying an additional 651,671 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Global Payments by 126.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,019,788 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $84,724,000 after buying an additional 570,413 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Global Payments by 99.5% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,124,558 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $89,820,000 after buying an additional 560,936 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Stock Down 5.7%

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $65.96 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.16 billion, a PE ratio of 11.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.73. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.61 and a 1 year high of $99.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The firm's 50-day moving average is $73.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.16.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 16.92% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.85 earnings per share. Global Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.800-14.000 EPS. Analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Truist Financial set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $88.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Stephens cut their target price on Global Payments from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $91.18.

Global Payments Company Profile

Global Payments Inc NYSE: GPN is a worldwide provider of payment technology and software solutions that enables commerce for merchants, issuers and enterprises. The company develops and operates payment processing networks, point-of-sale systems and cloud-based software that facilitate electronic transactions across in-store, online and mobile channels. Its services span merchant acquiring, payment gateway services, omnichannel commerce platforms, and solutions for recurring and subscription billing.

Global Payments offers a range of products and services including integrated payment terminals and point-of-sale software, e-commerce and gateway technologies, fraud prevention and tokenization tools, and business analytics and reporting.

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