Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Receives $138.82 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $137.65.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GPN. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Global Payments in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. StockNews.com cut Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. William Blair cut Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Global Payments from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $147.00 target price on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE:GPN opened at $99.13 on Tuesday. Global Payments has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $141.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $105.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.98.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 11.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Global Payments will post 11.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is presently 18.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Global Payments news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $166,305.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Stanley Capital Management LLC grew its position in 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 valued at $12,146,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 12.3% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 267,483 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,775,000 after acquiring an additional 29,289 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in Global Payments by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 302,364 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,414,000 after acquiring an additional 24,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC boosted its stake in Global Payments by 20.6% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 172,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,723,000 after purchasing an additional 29,503 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.