Westpac Banking Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. $GPN

Key Points

• Westpac Banking Corp dramatically increased its stake in Global Payments, boosting holdings by 5,795.1% in the fourth quarter to 57,182 shares valued at about $4.4 million.
• Global Payments reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.96 versus $2.82 expected and revenue of $2.86 billion, up 63.1% from a year earlier.
• Analysts are mixed on the stock: the consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $84.29, while recent calls ranged from sell to overweight.

Westpac Banking Corp increased its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 5,795.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 57,182 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 56,212 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in Global Payments were worth $4,426,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Global Payments by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,542,460 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,955,908,000 after acquiring an additional 149,441 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,409,697 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $883,111,000 after buying an additional 500,887 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,349,876 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $610,633,000 after buying an additional 499,695 shares during the last quarter. Glenview Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Glenview Capital Management LLC now owns 4,316,892 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $345,524,000 after buying an additional 523,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at about $276,014,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of Global Payments stock opened at $74.09 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.45 and a twelve month high of $90.64. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $69.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.51. The firm has a market cap of $20.27 billion, a PE ratio of -36.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.76.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.14. Global Payments had a positive return on equity of 13.11% and a negative net margin of 7.99%.The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.82 EPS. Global Payments's revenue for the quarter was up 63.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Global Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.800-14.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 13.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Global Payments's payout ratio is presently -49.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings lowered Global Payments from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Global Payments from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $84.29.

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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