Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $1.52 Million Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,591 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 955 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $1,523,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. acquired a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in Global Payments by 94.4% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 517 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Global Payments by 177.5% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on GPN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stephens downgraded Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup cut their target price on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Global Payments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

Global Payments Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of GPN stock opened at $97.03 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.71. 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 1 year low of $90.99 and a 1 year high of $136.36. The stock has a market capitalization 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Global Payments’s payout ratio 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.