Global Payments Inc. $GPN Stock Holdings Lifted by Focused Investors LLC

Focused Investors LLC lifted its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,204,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 36,900 shares during the period. Global Payments makes up approximately 3.1% of Focused Investors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Focused Investors LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $100,095,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its stake in Global Payments by 242.2% during the 3rd quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 53.4% in the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 382 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter valued at $37,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in Global Payments by 103.7% during the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 497 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the second quarter valued at $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David M. Sheffield sold 2,016 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total transaction of $164,122.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,175,397.58. This represents a 12.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider David Lawrence Green sold 11,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.99, for a total value of $927,884.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 68,096 shares in the company, valued at $5,446,999.04. The trade was a 14.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 14,723 shares of company stock valued at $1,186,772 and have sold 18,080 shares valued at $1,439,350. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Global Payments

Here are the key news stories impacting Global Payments this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Seaport Research upgraded GPN from “hold” to “strong-buy,” which could attract momentum and buy-side interest from investors who follow upgrades. Seaport Upgrade (Zacks)
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks included GPN in a short list of “value stocks to buy,” highlighting the company as a cash-flow-rich value pick; that framing may draw value-oriented investors. 4 Value Stocks to Buy (Zacks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Aggregated analyst coverage still shows a consensus “hold,” signaling mixed expectations that may limit large-scale buying until clearer catalysts emerge. Consensus “Hold” (AmericanBankingNews)
• Negative Sentiment: TD Cowen trimmed its price target from $95 to $90 and kept a “hold” rating — a downward revision of valuation that can dampen upside expectations and weigh on sentiment. TD Cowen Lowers PT (MarketScreener)
• Negative Sentiment: A reported sale of GPN shares by Rep. Gilbert Ray Cisneros, Jr. is being viewed negatively by some traders — insider selling often raises short-term concern about near-term conviction. Insider Sale (AmericanBankingNews)

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE GPN opened at $74.82 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.71 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.79. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.93 and a 12-month high of $114.17. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $77.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.96.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The business services provider reported $3.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.03. Global Payments had a net margin of 19.68% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.08 EPS. Global Payments has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.600-6.666 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on GPN. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $90.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.05.

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.