Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday morning.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Global Payments from $156.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on Global Payments from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Global Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.55.

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE GPN opened at $112.58 on Friday. Global Payments has a 1 year low of $91.60 and a 1 year high of $141.77. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $113.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $28.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.00.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $203,047,000 after acquiring an additional 785,539 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Global Payments by 188.1% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Global Payments by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $271,090,000 after purchasing an additional 490,411 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Global Payments by 316.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 463,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter worth $47,113,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.