Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday.

A number of other analysts have also commented on GPN. B. Riley upped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Global Payments from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Global Payments from $154.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $137.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $150.00.

Global Payments Stock Performance

GPN stock opened at $111.37 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $127.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.82. Global Payments has a 1 year low of $95.12 and a 1 year high of $141.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Global Payments will post 10.95 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.84%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in Global Payments by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 564 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $2,261,000 after acquiring an additional 7,387 shares in the last quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,815,000. AFS Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Finally, Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in Global Payments by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 19,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,479,000 after buying an additional 275 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.