Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

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

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on GPN. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $135.71.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN stock opened at $108.52 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $113.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. Global Payments has a one year low of $91.60 and a one year high of $141.77. The firm has a market cap of $27.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Global Payments by 65.0% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 5,216 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 2,054 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Global Payments by 4.3% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 18,630 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,802,000 after acquiring an additional 768 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in Global Payments by 2.7% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 51,817 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,011,000 after acquiring an additional 1,375 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in Global Payments by 64.5% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $911,000 after acquiring an additional 3,691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Global Payments during the second quarter worth about $31,439,000. 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.