Analysts Set Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Price Target at $151.92

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $150.00.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Wedbush upped their target price on Global Payments from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $129.00 target price on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GPN. Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 13.8% during the first quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 159,951 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,379,000 after purchasing an additional 19,381 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the 1st quarter valued at $222,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in Global Payments in the 1st quarter worth $1,716,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the first quarter valued at about $399,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 10.4% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 3,174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Up 0.8 %

GPN stock opened at $111.37 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.43 billion, a PE ratio of 22.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Global Payments has a twelve month low of $95.12 and a twelve month high of $141.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $127.50 and its 200-day moving average is $124.69.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 13.40%. Global Payments’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Global Payments will post 10.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.84%.

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.