Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Lifted to Strong-Buy at William Blair

William Blair upgraded shares of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $172.00 to $158.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $157.00 to $147.00 and set a positive rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Global Payments from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Global Payments from $163.00 to $155.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Global Payments from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $141.92.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE GPN opened at $102.06 on Wednesday. Global Payments has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $141.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.25, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $97.48 and a 200 day moving average of $115.28.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Global Payments will post 11.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 19.84%.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $166,305.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,068,087.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 524 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,752 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $635,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its position in Global Payments by 30.9% in the first quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 453 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 34,435 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,603,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. 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.