Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $134.33.

GPN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th.

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE GPN opened at $105.51 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Global Payments has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $140.38. The company’s 50 day moving average is $109.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.95. The stock has a market cap of $26.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.07, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Global Payments will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.18%.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.