Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Price Target Cut to $143.00

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its target price decreased by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $158.00 to $143.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective points to a potential upside of 45.64% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on GPN. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $164.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. B. Riley dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $204.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. 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 note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $147.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.55.

Global Payments Stock Up 0.5 %

GPN stock opened at $98.19 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Global Payments has a 52 week low of $91.60 and a 52 week high of $141.77.

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

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $166,305.23. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,087.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 4,240,388 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in 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 worth $109,857,000 after buying an additional 755,898 shares during the period. Natixis grew its position in Global Payments by 830.2% during the first quarter. Natixis now owns 589,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $78,795,000 after buying an additional 526,143 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 267.0% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 677,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $90,602,000 after buying an additional 493,164 shares during the period. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its position in Global Payments by 316.7% during the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 609,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $58,981,000 after buying an additional 463,568 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.