Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Price Target Raised to $135.00

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its price objective raised by Barclays from $120.00 to $135.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $112.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Global Payments from $164.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Global Payments from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. One 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.55.

Global Payments Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE GPN opened at $110.58 on Tuesday. Global Payments has a 52 week low of $91.60 and a 52 week high of $141.77. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $110.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $28.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.00.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.83%.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stanley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter. Stanley Capital Management LLC now owns 125,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,146,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 65.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $203,047,000 after acquiring an additional 785,539 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Global Payments during the third quarter valued at approximately $562,000. Poplar Forest Capital LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,184,000. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Global Payments by 158.6% in the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 491,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $50,322,000 after purchasing an additional 301,358 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.