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

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

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas upgraded Global Payments to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Global Payments from $126.00 to $122.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. B. Riley decreased their target price on Global Payments from $204.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.82.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $102.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $26.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $105.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.97. Global Payments has a 52 week low of $91.60 and a 52 week high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Global Payments will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.84%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth $225,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 1st quarter worth $119,000. Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.5% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.6% in the 1st 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. boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 6,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $830,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.