Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Global Payments from $154.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $160.00 to $157.00 and set a positive rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $158.00 to $150.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $149.11.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.5 %

Global Payments stock opened at $102.76 on Tuesday. Global Payments has a fifty-two week low of $95.12 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $120.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. Analysts predict that Global Payments will post 11.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 19.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Andrea M. Carter sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.34, for a total value of $367,422.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,806,770.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 70.4% in the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 564 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 35.4% during the 4th quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 46,953 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,963,000 after purchasing an additional 12,273 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 60.5% in the 3rd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 19,593 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 7,387 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Global Payments by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 255,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,064,000 after purchasing an additional 15,655 shares during the period. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth $212,000. Institutional investors 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.