Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Downgraded by Stephens to Equal Weight

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Stephens from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $120.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock. Stephens’ price objective points to a potential upside of 7.74% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on GPN. Seaport Res Ptn cut Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $136.82.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.8 %

GPN opened at $111.38 on Friday. Global Payments has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $141.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $114.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.98, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.00.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 65.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $203,047,000 after acquiring an additional 785,539 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 188.1% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 22.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $271,090,000 after purchasing an additional 490,411 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 316.7% in the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 609,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $58,981,000 after purchasing an additional 463,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments in the 3rd quarter worth about $47,113,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently 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.