Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 955 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,591 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 955 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $1,523,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 36,399 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,079,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 294.7% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 10,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,129,000 after purchasing an additional 7,523 shares during the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,823 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $653,000 after purchasing an additional 669 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,228,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 234,940 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,327,000 after buying an additional 7,456 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:GPN opened at $97.03 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.99 and a 12 month high of $136.36. The company has a market cap of $23.86 billion, a PE ratio of 15.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.71.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on GPN shares. StockNews.com upgraded 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 shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 price objective (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

Global Payments Company 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.