7,401 Shares in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Acquired by Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 7,401 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $725,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in Global Payments by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 992 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,228,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 33,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,795,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 10,382 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,163,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Up 3.5%

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

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

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Global Payments from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays cut their price objective on Global Payments from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $86.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.91.

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.