Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Price Target Lowered to $149.00 at Bank of America

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its price target reduced by Bank of America from $156.00 to $149.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on GPN. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Global Payments from $156.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stephens cut Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.18.

Global Payments Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:GPN opened at $105.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Global Payments has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $111.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.53. The stock has a market cap of $26.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 13.61%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Global Payments will post 11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.83%.

Insider Activity

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GPN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $345,823,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in Global Payments by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,298,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $929,969,000 after buying an additional 1,659,984 shares during the last quarter. Focused Investors LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $99,969,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position 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 valued at $203,047,000 after buying an additional 785,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Global Payments by 1,559.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 548,833 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,502,000 after buying an additional 515,763 shares during the last quarter. 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.