Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Reduces Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 4.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,459 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,606 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Global Payments were worth $9,470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Cromwell Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 59.6% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 383 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter worth about $50,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GPN shares. Stephens dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. BTIG Research lowered shares of Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Global Payments to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $137.41.

Global Payments Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Global Payments stock traded down $1.28 during trading on Friday, reaching $114.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,156,033 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,263,353. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $109.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.45. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.60 and a 1-year high of $141.77. The company has a market cap of $29.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.83%.

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.