Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty-six research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have issued a hold recommendation and thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $135.71.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens lowered Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $203,047,000 after acquiring an additional 785,539 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 1,559.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 548,833 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,502,000 after purchasing an additional 515,763 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 22.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $271,090,000 after purchasing an additional 490,411 shares during the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the third quarter worth approximately $47,113,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 925.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 417,832 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,794,000 after buying an additional 377,087 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE GPN opened at $110.43 on Thursday. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.86. The company has a market cap of $28.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.00. Global Payments has a 1-year low of $91.60 and a 1-year high of $141.77.

About Global Payments

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.