Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $5.21 Million Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 3.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 53,211 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,889 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $5,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in Global Payments by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 992 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its position in Global Payments by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in Global Payments by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. raised its position in Global Payments by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 33,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,795,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in Global Payments by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 10,382 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,163,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.91.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $79.01 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.62. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.93 and a 12 month high of $120.00.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.73 by $0.09. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 12.33%. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.59 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.13%.

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.