Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. B. Riley reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $204.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 price target (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $135.71.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of GPN opened at $109.11 on Wednesday. Global Payments has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $114.24 and a 200 day moving average of $106.96. The firm has a market cap of $27.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stanley Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 18.9% in the 2nd quarter. Stanley Capital Management LLC now owns 125,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,146,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Global Payments by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $330,516,000 after purchasing an additional 349,457 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of 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. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter worth about $562,000. Finally, Poplar Forest Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 3rd quarter valued at about $13,184,000. Hedge funds and other 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.