Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 240 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Global Payments were worth $1,959,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GPN. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 177.5% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 94.4% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 517 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $103.19 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.70, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $109.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.93. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $140.38.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is 16.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays reduced their target price on Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stephens downgraded Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.33.

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.