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 report issued on Wednesday morning.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BTIG Research lowered shares of Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $147.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Barclays lowered their target price on Global Payments from $145.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, B. Riley reduced their price target on Global Payments from $204.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $136.57.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $117.08 on Wednesday. Global Payments has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $141.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $105.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.56. The company has a market cap of $29.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.05, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.97.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Global Payments by 3.4% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,638,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $679,952,000 after buying an additional 215,399 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $605,078,000 after acquiring an additional 31,934 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,797,677 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $639,967,000 after acquiring an additional 12,196 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Global Payments by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $271,090,000 after purchasing an additional 490,411 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Global Payments by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $203,047,000 after purchasing an additional 785,539 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.