Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Stock Price Down 6.5%

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) shares were down 6.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $113.54 and last traded at $114.79. Approximately 732,144 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 2,147,088 shares. The stock had previously closed at $122.77.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on GPN shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Global Payments from $154.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Global Payments from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Global Payments from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Global Payments from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Global Payments from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.92.

Global Payments Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $128.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $27.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.96.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.01. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 10.22%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 26.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 54.5% during the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 77.7% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 407 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

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.