Sound Income Strategies LLC Acquires 10,345 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 29.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,345 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $4,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stanley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Global Payments by 18.9% during the second quarter. Stanley Capital Management LLC now owns 125,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,146,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in Global Payments by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 267,483 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,775,000 after purchasing an additional 29,289 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in Global Payments by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 302,364 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,414,000 after purchasing an additional 24,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in Global Payments by 20.6% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 172,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,723,000 after buying an additional 29,503 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPN has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Global Payments from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $147.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Global Payments from $126.00 to $122.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Global Payments from $164.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, William Blair downgraded shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Global Payments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $166,305.23. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GPN traded up $1.73 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $100.61. The stock had a trading volume of 1,833,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,284,647. The company has a market capitalization of $25.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.98. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.60 and a 12-month high of $141.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $105.49 and a 200-day moving average of $106.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

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

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.84%.

Global Payments 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.