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

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-four research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $99.30.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GPN shares. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Global Payments to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Zacks Research raised Global Payments to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 10,392 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $81.42 per share, for a total transaction of $846,116.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 59,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,828,450.26. This trade represents a 21.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing 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 dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total transaction of $164,122.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 14,723 shares of company stock valued at $1,186,772 and have sold 18,080 shares valued at $1,439,350. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Pettee Investors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 24.1% in the second 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 in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 213.9% during the 3rd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 36,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,062,000 after purchasing an additional 25,118 shares in the last quarter. Saiph Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,269,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 60,905 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,875,000 after purchasing an additional 4,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,448,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of GPN opened at $77.43 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $18.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $77.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.01. Global Payments has a 12-month low of $65.93 and a 12-month high of $114.17.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 26th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Global Payments’s 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.