Global Payments’ (GPN) Neutral Rating Reiterated at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group reissued their neutral rating on shares of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $122.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $155.00.

GPN has been the subject of a number of other reports. B. Riley lowered their price target on Global Payments from $204.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $135.71.

Global Payments Stock Down 4.9 %

NYSE:GPN opened at $105.89 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.71. Global Payments has a one year low of $91.60 and a one year high of $141.77. The company has a market capitalization of $26.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

Insider Activity

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 65.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $203,047,000 after purchasing an additional 785,539 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 188.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $109,857,000 after purchasing an additional 755,898 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Global Payments by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $271,090,000 after buying an additional 490,411 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $58,981,000 after buying an additional 463,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter worth about $47,113,000. 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.