Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Thursday morning.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on GPN. Oppenheimer began coverage on Global Payments in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. BTIG Research cut Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Stephens cut shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $135.71.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of GPN stock opened at $107.76 on Thursday. Global Payments has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $141.77. The stock has a market cap of $27.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $113.57 and its 200-day moving average is $107.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC bought a new position in Global Payments in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 59.6% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 383 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. 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.