JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Price Target to $111.00

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its price objective trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $119.00 to $111.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $182.00 to $150.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $163.00 to $155.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $141.92.

Global Payments Price Performance

GPN stock traded down $2.00 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $102.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,125,447 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,308,252. The company’s 50 day moving average is $97.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.28. Global Payments has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $26.05 billion, a PE ratio of 20.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.98.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Global Payments will post 11.09 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given 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 is Friday, September 13th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 19.84%.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $166,305.23. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,068,087.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in Global Payments by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 564 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $210,000. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 35.4% during the fourth quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 46,953 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,963,000 after purchasing an additional 12,273 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 82,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,499,000 after acquiring an additional 18,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 255,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,064,000 after acquiring an additional 15,655 shares in the last quarter. 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.