Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Price Target Cut to $156.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its price objective reduced by Morgan Stanley from $164.00 to $156.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

GPN has been the subject of a number of other reports. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Global Payments from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Global Payments from $172.00 to $158.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. B. Riley dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $204.00 to $194.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $141.36.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $101.02 on Wednesday. Global Payments has a 1 year low of $91.60 and a 1 year high of $141.77. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.32. The company has a market capitalization of $25.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.04, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 14.26%. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Global Payments will post 11.07 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Global Payments news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $166,305.23. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,068,087.63. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 194.2% during the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,423,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $621,149,000 after buying an additional 4,240,388 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 188.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $109,857,000 after purchasing an additional 755,898 shares during the period. Kodai Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at $69,029,000. Natixis raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 830.2% during the first quarter. Natixis now owns 589,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $78,795,000 after purchasing an additional 526,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 267.0% in the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 677,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $90,602,000 after purchasing an additional 493,164 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

About Global Payments

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.