Jefferies Financial Group Lowers Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Price Target to $120.00

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its price objective lowered by Jefferies Financial Group from $130.00 to $120.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their price target on Global Payments from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays decreased their price target on Global Payments from $145.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $147.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, B. Riley lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $204.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.82.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $102.31 on Wednesday. Global Payments has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $141.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $105.89 and its 200-day moving average is $105.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.30, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.98.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 11.93%. Global Payments’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.48 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Global Payments will post 11.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is currently 19.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Global Payments news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $166,305.23. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,068,087.63. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Global Payments in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in Global Payments in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 54.5% during the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Star Investment Management Corp. increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 154.7% in the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 354 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

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.