Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 1,059 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 5.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,775 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,059 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Global Payments were worth $2,643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its stake in Global Payments by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 564 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $210,000. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. boosted its position in Global Payments by 35.4% in the fourth quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 46,953 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,963,000 after purchasing an additional 12,273 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its position in Global Payments by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 82,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,499,000 after purchasing an additional 18,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Global Payments by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 255,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,064,000 after purchasing an additional 15,655 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Andrea M. Carter sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.34, for a total value of $367,422.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,806,770.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN stock traded up $0.14 on Monday, reaching $101.33. The stock had a trading volume of 221,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,295,776. The stock has a market cap of $25.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.98. Global Payments Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.60 and a 1 year high of $141.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $117.36.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 13.40%. Equities research analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.09 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho lowered their target price on Global Payments from $129.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their target price on Global Payments from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.32.

About Global Payments

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.