Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Downgraded to “Market Perform” at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $112.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock, down from their prior price target of $135.00.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Barclays dropped their target price on Global Payments from $145.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. BNP Paribas raised Global Payments to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Global Payments from $158.00 to $143.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.65.

Global Payments Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE GPN opened at $99.30 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. Global Payments has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $141.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.35 billion, a PE ratio of 19.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $105.79 and its 200 day moving average is $105.30.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 EPS 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 business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Global Payments will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 19.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $166,305.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,068,087.63. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $621,149,000 after buying an additional 4,240,388 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in Global Payments by 0.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,797,677 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $639,967,000 after purchasing an additional 12,196 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Global Payments by 10.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,957,914 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $189,307,000 after purchasing an additional 193,137 shares during the period. Davis Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Global Payments by 18.2% during the second quarter. Davis Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,300,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $125,710,000 after purchasing an additional 200,000 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised 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 valued at $109,857,000 after purchasing an additional 755,898 shares during the period. 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.