South Dakota Investment Council Raises Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

South Dakota Investment Council grew its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 195,207 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,523 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council owned approximately 0.08% of Global Payments worth $21,875,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 94.4% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 177.5% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPN has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays cut their price target on Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 price target (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.33.

Global Payments Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of Global Payments stock opened at $103.19 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01. 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 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $140.38. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $109.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.93.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share 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 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

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.