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

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 17,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,510 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Global Payments were worth $1,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 194.2% in the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,423,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $621,149,000 after buying an additional 4,240,388 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,797,677 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $639,967,000 after purchasing an additional 12,196 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 10.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,957,914 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $189,307,000 after buying an additional 193,137 shares in the last quarter. Davis Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 18.2% in the second quarter. Davis Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,300,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $125,710,000 after buying an additional 200,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 188.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $109,857,000 after acquiring an additional 755,898 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of GPN stock opened at $116.06 on Tuesday. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $141.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $105.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $29.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.86, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GPN shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Global Payments from $164.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Global Payments to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, William Blair cut Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.50.

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.