Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Cuts Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Price Target to $135.00

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its price objective decreased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report issued on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

GPN has been the topic of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 target price (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays lowered their target price on Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stephens downgraded Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.10.

Global Payments Price Performance

GPN opened at $99.75 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.14, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $103.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.11. Global Payments has a 12-month low of $90.99 and a 12-month high of $129.35.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Equities analysts predict that Global Payments will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is presently 16.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Global Payments by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,995,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,800,952,000 after purchasing an additional 179,195 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,298,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $929,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659,984 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,230,322 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $696,362,000 after buying an additional 301,877 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Global Payments by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $564,437,000 after buying an additional 83,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at $345,823,000. 89.76% of the stock is 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.