Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Price Target Cut to $163.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its price objective decreased by Morgan Stanley from $166.00 to $163.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on GPN. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price target (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Stephens lowered shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $136.18.

Global Payments Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Global Payments stock opened at $105.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $111.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.53. Global Payments has a 1 year low of $91.60 and a 1 year high of $141.77. The stock has a market cap of $26.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 13.61%. Equities research analysts predict that Global Payments will post 11 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,760,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 28,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,164,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 992 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $413,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. 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.