Stephens Cuts Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Price Target to $130.00

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its price objective cut by Stephens from $145.00 to $130.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $119.00 to $111.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $124.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $141.92.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN traded down $2.00 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $102.06. 2,125,447 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,308,252. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $97.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $115.28. The company has a market cap of $26.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Global Payments has a 1 year low of $91.60 and a 1 year high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.48 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Global Payments will post 11.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $166,305.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,087.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in Global Payments in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. 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.