JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Price Target to $115.00

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its price target decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $118.00 to $115.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on GPN. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Global Payments from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $164.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.96.

Global Payments Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE GPN opened at $103.71 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.37. Global Payments has a one year low of $91.60 and a one year high of $141.77. The firm has a market cap of $26.47 billion, a PE ratio of 20.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 11.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.48 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Global Payments will post 11.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is 19.84%.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $166,305.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Cromwell Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the third quarter worth $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, 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 last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.