Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Coverage Initiated at The Goldman Sachs Group

Investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) in a note issued to investors on Monday. The firm set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 21.41% from the company’s previous close.

GPN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Global Payments to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on Global Payments from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Evercore lowered their price objective on Global Payments from $90.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Global Payments from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.36.

Global Payments Stock Performance

GPN stock traded down $3.92 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $72.48. The stock had a trading volume of 548,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,857,896. Global Payments has a 52 week low of $65.93 and a 52 week high of $100.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.73.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $0.02. Global Payments had a net margin of 16.92% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.85 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Global Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.800-14.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Global Payments will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 10,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $81.42 per share, with a total value of $846,116.64. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 59,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,828,450.26. This represents a 21.25% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David M. Sheffield sold 2,016 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total transaction of $164,122.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,175,397.58. This trade represents a 12.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Strive Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. grew its holdings in Global Payments by 242.2% during the 3rd quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, SouthState Bank Corp bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter worth about $28,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Payments Company Profile

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.