Citigroup Has Lowered Expectations for Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Stock Price

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its price target reduced by research analysts at Citigroup from $138.00 to $135.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 26.66% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on GPN. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price objective (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.33.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of Global Payments stock opened at $106.59 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $27.13 billion, a PE ratio of 17.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.01. Global Payments has a 12-month low of $91.60 and a 12-month high of $140.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Global Payments will post 12.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. North Star Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Global Payments by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 282,933 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,705,000 after buying an additional 8,947 shares during the last quarter. Cache Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $606,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,440,000. BIP Alliance LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,306,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $409,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.