Bank of America Has Lowered Expectations for Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Stock Price

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its price target lowered by equities researchers at Bank of America from $156.00 to $149.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 41.01% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on GPN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 target price (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Stephens cut Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.76.

Global Payments Stock Performance

GPN opened at $105.67 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.56. Global Payments has a 1-year low of $91.60 and a 1-year high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 13.61%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Global Payments will post 11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,760,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 28,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,164,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 4.1% during the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 992 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during 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.