Brokerages Set Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Target Price at $134.33

Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-six research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $134.33.

A number of brokerages recently commented on GPN. Barclays lowered their price objective 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, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens downgraded Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st.

Global Payments Stock Performance

GPN opened at $101.46 on Monday. Global Payments has a 1-year low of $91.60 and a 1-year high of $140.38. The stock has a market cap of $25.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $109.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Global Payments will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at $303,000. Aurdan Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth about $3,050,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 99,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,122,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Michels Family Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth about $416,000. 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.