Bank of America Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Stock Price

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its target price cut by Bank of America from $156.00 to $149.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on GPN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Stephens lowered Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $112.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on Global Payments from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 target price (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, Global Payments has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $136.18.

Global Payments Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE:GPN opened at $105.67 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01. Global Payments has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $141.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $111.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share 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 expect that Global Payments will post 11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

Insider Activity

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GPN. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth $345,823,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,298,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $929,969,000 after buying an additional 1,659,984 shares during the last quarter. Focused Investors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth $99,969,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in 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 worth $203,047,000 after purchasing an additional 785,539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Global Payments by 1,559.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 548,833 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $61,502,000 after purchasing an additional 515,763 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.