Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-five brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fifteen have assigned a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $102.2857.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. KeyCorp cut Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Global Payments from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 24th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, EVP David M. Sheffield sold 2,016 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total value of $164,122.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,175,397.58. This trade represents a 12.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 10,392 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $81.42 per share, with a total value of $846,116.64. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 59,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,828,450.26. This trade represents a 21.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 14,723 shares of company stock worth $1,186,772 and have sold 18,080 shares worth $1,439,350. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $725,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the first quarter worth approximately $176,000. CW Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 174.5% during the first quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 7,933 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $780,000 after purchasing an additional 5,043 shares in the last quarter. Norinchukin Bank The raised its stake in Global Payments by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 13,436 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in Global Payments by 1,136.5% in the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 18,498 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 17,002 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Down 1.6%

GPN stock opened at $80.80 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.83. The company has a market capitalization of $19.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Global Payments has a 12 month low of $65.93 and a 12 month high of $115.19.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The business services provider reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.41 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 19.68% and a return on equity of 12.66%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.08 earnings per share. Global Payments has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.600-6.666 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Global Payments will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is 14.04%.

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.