Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on GPN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $172.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.36.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of Global Payments stock opened at $97.06 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $105.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.70. The company has a market cap of $24.70 billion, a PE ratio of 19.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.98. Global Payments has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. Analysts expect that Global Payments will post 11.07 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GPN. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Global Payments during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Global Payments during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in Global Payments during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Global Payments by 54.5% during the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, North Star Investment Management Corp. boosted its stake in Global Payments by 154.7% during the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 354 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. 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.