Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Trims Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Target Price to $150.00

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its price objective cut by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $158.00 to $150.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $137.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $160.00 to $157.00 and set a positive rating for the company in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Global Payments from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $150.00.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.8 %

Global Payments stock opened at $111.37 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.97. Global Payments has a 12-month low of $95.12 and a 12-month high of $141.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $127.50 and a 200 day moving average of $124.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.01. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. Global Payments’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Global Payments will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 19.84%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. increased its position in 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 buying an additional 109 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, North Star Investment Management Corp. grew its position in Global Payments by 154.7% during the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 354 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. 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.