Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Upgraded at Cantor Fitzgerald

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

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on GPN. KeyCorp lowered shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Citigroup upgraded shares of Global Payments to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on Global Payments from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $90.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Global Payments from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.82.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $71.26 on Tuesday. Global Payments has a 52-week low of $65.93 and a 52-week high of $114.17. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 10,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $81.42 per share, with a total value of $846,116.64. Following 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Patricia A. Watson bought 1,331 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $75.06 per share, with a total value of $99,904.86. Following the purchase, the director owned 2,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,984.06. This represents a 100.83% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders purchased 14,723 shares of company stock worth $1,186,772 and sold 18,080 shares worth $1,439,350. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Global Payments by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 133,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,304,000 after purchasing an additional 7,254 shares during the last quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC now owns 19,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 49.8% in the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,242 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $638,000 after buying an additional 2,741 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 725.5% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 48,302 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,739,000 after acquiring an additional 42,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at about $646,000. 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.