William Blair Lowers Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) to Market Perform

William Blair cut shares of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. William Blair also issued estimates for Global Payments’ Q3 2024 earnings at $2.97 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $2.76 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $10.98 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $2.69 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $3.10 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $3.30 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $3.01 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $12.10 EPS.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on GPN. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $152.00 to $125.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 21st. BTIG Research downgraded Global Payments from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. They set an equal weight rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Susquehanna reissued a positive rating and issued a $147.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Global Payments from $124.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $141.36.

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE GPN opened at $101.02 on Wednesday. Global Payments has a 1 year low of $91.60 and a 1 year high of $141.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $105.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.98. 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 (NYSE:GPN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.48 earnings per share. Global Payments’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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is presently 19.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $166,305.23. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,068,087.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 5.1% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 34,435 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,603,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 54.5% during the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. KFG Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 6.4% during the first quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,883 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.9% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,776,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.