Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Purchases 138,752 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 48.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 424,706 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 138,752 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $41,069,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Global Payments in the first quarter worth $31,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Global Payments in the first quarter worth $32,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Global Payments by 54.5% in the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments during the second quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, North Star Investment Management Corp. lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 154.7% during the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 354 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Price Performance

Global Payments stock opened at $110.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.96, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $105.52 and a 200-day moving average of $110.13. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.60 and a 1 year high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 11.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.48 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.07 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 19.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $166,305.23. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GPN shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Global Payments from $124.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Global Payments from $152.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Global Payments from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.59.

Global Payments Company Profile

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.