South Dakota Investment Council Has $21.88 Million Stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

South Dakota Investment Council grew its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 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 quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $21,875,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Global Payments by 3.4% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,638,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $679,952,000 after purchasing an additional 215,399 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Global Payments by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $605,078,000 after purchasing an additional 31,934 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Global Payments by 1.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $564,437,000 after purchasing an additional 83,481 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Global Payments by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $330,516,000 after purchasing an additional 349,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Global Payments by 22.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $271,090,000 after purchasing an additional 490,411 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $103.19 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $109.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.93. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.60 and a 52 week high of $140.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on GPN. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price target (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Citigroup cut their price target on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.33.

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.