Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Short Interest Down 7.1% in June

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,030,000 shares, a drop of 7.1% from the May 31st total of 6,490,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,390,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Global Payments Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:GPN traded up $1.41 on Tuesday, reaching $97.09. 1,289,056 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,345,169. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $24.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day moving average of $104.55 and a 200-day moving average of $121.27. Global Payments has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. As a group, analysts expect that Global Payments will post 11.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.84%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Andrea M. Carter sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.34, for a total transaction of $367,422.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,806,770.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 18.8% during the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 524 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 1.9% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,752 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 5,409 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $687,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 5.1% in the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,740 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,828,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on 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 decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 3rd. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $152.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Susquehanna cut their target price on Global Payments from $160.00 to $157.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.68.

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.