Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Has $3.46 Million Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado decreased its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,306 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $3,455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GPN. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth $210,000. Cibc World Markets Corp grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 82,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,499,000 after acquiring an additional 18,615 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 267,483 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,775,000 after acquiring an additional 29,289 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in Global Payments by 8.8% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 302,364 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,414,000 after buying an additional 24,415 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $166,305.23. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,068,087.63. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPN has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen dropped 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. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.59.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE:GPN opened at $110.69 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $28.25 billion, a PE ratio of 21.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.98. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $105.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.01.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 14.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.84%.

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.