Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Receives $141.36 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $140.23.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GPN. Seaport Res Ptn cut Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. B. Riley cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $204.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Global Payments by 54.5% in the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, North Star Investment Management Corp. lifted its position in Global Payments by 154.7% in the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 354 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of GPN opened at $100.43 on Friday. Global Payments has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. The firm has a market cap of $25.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $105.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.56. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.03. Global Payments had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 11.93%. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Global Payments will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 19.84%.

Global Payments Company Profile

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.