Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Susquehanna

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN)‘s stock had its “positive” rating restated by investment analysts at Susquehanna in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $147.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock. Susquehanna’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 32.12% from the stock’s previous close.

GPN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $172.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Global Payments from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.59.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $111.26 on Tuesday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $104.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.37. Global Payments has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $141.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,087.63. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 194.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 4,240,388 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth about $365,933,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 755,898 shares in the last quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth about $69,029,000. Finally, Natixis grew its position in Global Payments by 830.2% during the first quarter. Natixis now owns 589,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $78,795,000 after buying an additional 526,143 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.