Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Price Target Cut to $130.00

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its price objective lowered by research analysts at Stephens from $145.00 to $130.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Stephens’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 27.38% from the company’s current price.

GPN has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $163.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Global Payments from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Barclays lowered their price target on Global Payments from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $157.00 to $147.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Global Payments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.04.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPN traded down $2.00 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $102.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,125,447 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,308,252. The company has a market cap of $26.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.98. Global Payments has a 12-month low of $91.60 and a 12-month high of $141.77. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.39. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 13.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.48 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Global Payments will post 11.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Global Payments news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was 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 owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,087.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the first quarter worth $32,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, West Paces Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Global Payments by 54.5% in the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.