Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Decreases Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS decreased its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 54,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,275 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $6,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 94.4% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 517 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 177.5% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $97.03 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $104.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $90.99 and a one year high of $136.36. The company has a market cap of $23.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.70, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GPN. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stephens lowered shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price target (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Global Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

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.