Gradient Investments LLC Increases Position in Global Payments Inc. $GPN

Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 156.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 45,565 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,828 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $3,306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gtcr LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the 1st quarter worth $2,911,939,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at about $276,014,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 112.3% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 1,206,807 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 5,710.5% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 941,299 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $72,857,000 after acquiring an additional 925,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 93.8% in the fourth quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,412,128 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $109,299,000 after acquiring an additional 683,524 shares during the period. 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 $86.11 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $75.16 and a 200 day moving average of $72.66. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.16 and a 12 month high of $90.85. The firm has a market cap of $22.79 billion, a PE ratio of -28.90, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The business services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.02. Global Payments had a positive return on equity of 13.80% and a negative net margin of 9.16%.The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 68.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Global Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.600-13.800 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 13.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently -33.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on GPN shares. BTIG Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Global Payments from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays set a $89.00 target price on shares of Global Payments and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Global Payments has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.68.

About Global Payments

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.