The Goldman Sachs Group Reiterates Neutral Rating for Global Payments (NYSE:GPN)

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reissued by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $122.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $155.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 9.53% from the stock’s current price.

GPN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $147.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. William Blair cut shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Global Payments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.05.

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE GPN traded down $0.90 on Thursday, reaching $111.38. The company had a trading volume of 1,490,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,092,423. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.00. Global Payments has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $141.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $114.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 59.6% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 383 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.