Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Bought by State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System

State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 8.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 302,364 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 24,415 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System owned 0.12% of Global Payments worth $40,414,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GPN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at about $365,933,000. Kodai Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $69,029,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $68,677,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in Global Payments by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,192,227 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $278,413,000 after purchasing an additional 477,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the 1st quarter valued at $47,094,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on GPN. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $163.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $152.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $172.00 target price on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Global Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.32.

Global Payments Price Performance

Global Payments stock traded down $1.30 on Friday, reaching $99.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 418,592 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,316,244. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $141.77. The company has a market cap of $25.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $99.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $118.73.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Global Payments

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

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.