Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) PT Lowered to $156.00

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its price target reduced by Morgan Stanley from $164.00 to $156.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on GPN. B. Riley dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $204.00 to $194.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $126.00 to $122.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, William Blair cut Global Payments from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $141.36.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $101.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.04, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $105.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.32. Global Payments has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month 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.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 19.84%.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

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 directly owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GPN. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in Global Payments by 194.2% during the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,423,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $621,149,000 after acquiring an additional 4,240,388 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 188.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $109,857,000 after purchasing an additional 755,898 shares in the last quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $69,029,000. Natixis raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 830.2% during the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 589,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $78,795,000 after purchasing an additional 526,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in Global Payments by 267.0% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 677,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,602,000 after buying an additional 493,164 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

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.