Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Rating Increased to Hold at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

GPN has been the subject of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Global Payments to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stephens reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $85.00 price target on Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.82.

Global Payments Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE GPN traded down $0.86 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $72.90. The company had a trading volume of 438,791 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,310,520. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.59. Global Payments has a 52-week low of $65.93 and a 52-week high of $114.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $17.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.23, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.79.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The business services provider reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.03. Global Payments had a net margin of 19.68% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.08 earnings per share. Global Payments has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.600-6.666 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Global Payments will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 26th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is currently 14.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 10,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $81.42 per share, with a total value of $846,116.64. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 59,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,828,450.26. This trade represents a 21.25% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider David Lawrence Green sold 11,600 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.99, for a total value of $927,884.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 68,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,446,999.04. This represents a 14.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 14,723 shares of company stock valued at $1,186,772 and sold 18,080 shares valued at $1,439,350. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pettee Investors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 24.1% in the 2nd quarter. Pettee Investors Inc. now owns 15,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,254,000 after acquiring an additional 3,040 shares during the period. BIP Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Global Payments by 151.6% during the third quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 30,103 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,501,000 after purchasing an additional 18,138 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Global Payments by 213.9% in the third quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 36,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,062,000 after purchasing an additional 25,118 shares during the period. Saiph Capital LLC bought a new position in Global Payments during the 2nd quarter valued at $7,269,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,448,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

About Global Payments

Global Payments Inc (NYSE: GPN) is a worldwide provider of payment technology and software solutions that enables commerce for merchants, issuers and enterprises. The company develops and operates payment processing networks, point-of-sale systems and cloud-based software that facilitate electronic transactions across in-store, online and mobile channels. Its services span merchant acquiring, payment gateway services, omnichannel commerce platforms, and solutions for recurring and subscription billing.

Global Payments offers a range of products and services including integrated payment terminals and point-of-sale software, e-commerce and gateway technologies, fraud prevention and tokenization tools, and business analytics and reporting.