Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Price Target Lowered to $160.00 at Barclays

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its price objective lowered by Barclays from $170.00 to $160.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on GPN. TheStreet raised Global Payments from a c rating to a b- rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho reissued a neutral rating and issued a $129.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $137.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Global Payments from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Global Payments from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $151.92.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $123.42 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $131.18 and its 200-day moving average is $124.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.48 billion, a PE ratio of 32.65, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.96. Global Payments has a fifty-two week low of $95.12 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.01. Global Payments had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.44%. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Global Payments will post 10.94 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Waverly Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 60.5% during the third quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 19,593 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,261,000 after acquiring an additional 7,387 shares during the last quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH acquired a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth about $1,815,000. AFS Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth about $202,000. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 19,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,479,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Redwood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at about $774,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.