Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Has $2.80 Million Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 35.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,962 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,615 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $2,801,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Global Payments by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC raised its stake in Global Payments by 0.3% during the first quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 34,435 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,603,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. KFG Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Global Payments by 6.4% during the first quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,883 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in Global Payments by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,776,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $166,305.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Global Payments from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.23.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $98.19 on Friday. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. The company’s 50-day moving average is $105.60 and its 200 day moving average is $108.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $25.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.98.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is presently 19.84%.

About Global Payments

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.