Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday.

GPN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. B. Riley reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $204.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $147.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Global Payments to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.55.

Global Payments Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE GPN opened at $112.35 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $112.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.46. Global Payments has a one year low of $91.60 and a one year high of $141.77. The company has a market capitalization of $28.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.83%.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GPN. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,760,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 4.1% during the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 1.2% in the third quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 27.2% during the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 543 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 8,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $846,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

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.