Thompson Investment Management Inc. Purchases 236 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Thompson Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,494 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $2,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GPN. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 77.7% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 407 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Global Payments news, VP Andrea M. Carter sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.34, for a total transaction of $367,422.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,806,770.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of GPN traded down $0.74 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $94.91. The company had a trading volume of 668,981 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,344,696. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $24.23 billion, a PE ratio of 18.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.98. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.60 and a 1-year high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.17 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. Research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on GPN shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Global Payments from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $163.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $128.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Global Payments has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.68.

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.