Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Price Target Cut to $125.00

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its price target decreased by Stephens from $130.00 to $125.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on GPN. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their price objective on Global Payments from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $147.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, William Blair downgraded shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.82.

Global Payments Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE:GPN opened at $99.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $105.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. Global Payments has a 52 week low of $91.60 and a 52 week high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted 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 net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 11.93%. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Global Payments will post 11.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $2,068,087.63. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth approximately $225,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Global Payments in the first quarter worth $119,000. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Global Payments by 0.5% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 45,815 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,124,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 0.6% during the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 21,609 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,888,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 15.5% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 6,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $830,000 after buying an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.