Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Takes Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 7,092 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $694,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new stake in Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 4,866.7% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 447 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 9,580.0% in the 1st quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 484 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:GPN traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $81.79. The stock had a trading volume of 1,007,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,503,724. The stock has a market cap of $19.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.94. The business's 50 day moving average is $77.78 and its 200 day moving average is $93.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.93 and a fifty-two week high of $120.00.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.73 by $0.09. The company 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 business's quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price target on Global Payments from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Williams Trading set a $75.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Friday, April 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.