Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Stock Price

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its target price upped by Barclays from $120.00 to $135.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on GPN. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Global Payments from $126.00 to $122.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen lowered their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Global Payments to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.09.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $114.70 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $110.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.77. The company has a market cap of $29.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Global Payments has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $141.77.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in Global Payments by 59.6% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 383 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. 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.