Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Sells 1,275 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lessened its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 54,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,275 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $6,064,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GPN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 target price (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Stephens cut shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.33.

Global Payments Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:GPN opened at $97.03 on Friday. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $90.99 and a one year high of $136.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.70, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 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.