State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System Trims Stake in Global Payments Inc. $GPN

State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System cut its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 4.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 232,716 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,073 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $18,627,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LRI Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 53.4% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 382 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in Global Payments in the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Global Payments during the first quarter worth approximately $42,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Global Payments to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Global Payments from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Global Payments from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $90.00 to $85.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.90.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $76.78 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.95. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.93 and a twelve month high of $120.00.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The business services provider reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.03. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.47% and a net margin of 15.07%.The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.08 EPS. Global Payments has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.600-6.666 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.04%.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In related news, Director Patricia A. Watson bought 1,331 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $75.06 per share, for a total transaction of $99,904.86. Following the acquisition, the director owned 2,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,984.06. This represents a 100.83% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Connie D. Mcdaniel sold 4,464 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.81, for a total transaction of $347,343.84. Following the sale, the director owned 30,014 shares in the company, valued at $2,335,389.34. This represents a 12.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Global Payments 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.