Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Has $4.31 Million Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado cut its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 457 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $4,307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth about $261,300,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 3,956.9% during the 1st quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 1,739,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $120,543,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,319 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $131,733,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,055,514 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $303,474,000 after buying an additional 1,018,338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd acquired a new position in Global Payments during the first quarter worth $97,583,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider David Lawrence Green sold 17,920 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.53, for a total transaction of $2,016,537.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 77,411 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,711,059.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider David Lawrence Green sold 17,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.53, for a total transaction of $2,016,537.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 77,411 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,711,059.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joshua J. Whipple sold 37,096 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.28, for a total value of $4,721,578.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,062,180.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE:GPN opened at $114.46 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $92.27 and a fifty-two week high of $129.70. The company has a market cap of $29.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.27, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $114.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $111.44.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 31st. The business services provider reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $2.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 9.23% and a return on equity of 11.28%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 9.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 15th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 29.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 10th. Credit Suisse Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Friday, September 8th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on Global Payments from $123.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.85.

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 three segments: Merchant Solutions, Issuer Solutions, and Consumer 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.