State of Michigan Retirement System Has $9.41 Million Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,978 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $9,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. Stephens Inc. AR increased its position in Global Payments by 32.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 5,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $528,000 after buying an additional 1,272 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 295.6% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 724 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in Global Payments by 2.7% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 25,830 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,646,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in Global Payments by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 9,942 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 952 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 99,993 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,241,000 after purchasing an additional 3,603 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on GPN. StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 target price (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.33.

Insider Activity

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of GPN stock opened at $100.32 on Thursday. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $140.38. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $108.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.85. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $24.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.18%.

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.