Analysts Set Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) PT at $130.52

Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $124.73.

GPN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $135.00 to $78.00 in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price target (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Williams Trading set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Global Payments stock opened at $69.50 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $96.25 and a 200-day moving average of $105.09. 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 has a 1 year low of $68.48 and a 1 year high of $127.66. The company has a market capitalization of $17.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 16.18%.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,760,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc boosted its stake in Global Payments by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 28,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,164,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Global Payments by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 992 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in Global Payments by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,068 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by 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.