Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

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

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Global Payments from $126.00 to $122.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Global Payments from $172.00 to $158.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Susquehanna restated a positive rating and issued a $147.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $141.36.

Global Payments Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of Global Payments stock opened at $101.02 on Thursday. Global Payments has a 12-month low of $91.60 and a 12-month high of $141.77. The stock has a market cap of $25.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The business’s 50 day moving average is $105.57 and its 200-day moving average is $108.98.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 14.26%. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.48 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Global Payments will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.84%.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

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

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the second quarter valued at about $900,000. Brown Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the second quarter valued at about $1,128,000. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the second quarter valued at about $333,000. Delphi Management Inc. MA boosted its stake in Global Payments by 5.6% in the second quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA now owns 13,682 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,323,000 after buying an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aurora Investment Counsel boosted its stake in Global Payments by 5.9% in the second quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 11,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,093,000 after buying an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.