StockNews.com Downgrades Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on GPN. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their price objective on Global Payments from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $147.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.57.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of GPN stock opened at $114.83 on Wednesday. Global Payments has a 1 year low of $91.60 and a 1 year high of $141.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $105.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $103.42. The company has a market cap of $29.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.63, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Global Payments by 194.2% during the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,423,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $621,149,000 after buying an additional 4,240,388 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $203,047,000 after acquiring an additional 785,539 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 188.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $109,857,000 after purchasing an additional 755,898 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $271,090,000 after purchasing an additional 490,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its position in Global Payments by 316.7% in the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 609,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $58,981,000 after purchasing an additional 463,568 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

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.