Barclays Cuts Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Price Target to $160.00

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its price target reduced by Barclays from $170.00 to $160.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

GPN has been the subject of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Global Payments from $138.00 to $137.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group raised their target price on Global Payments from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Global Payments from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Global Payments from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Global Payments from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $151.92.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $122.16 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $31.16 billion, a PE ratio of 32.32, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a fifty day moving average of $130.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $124.19. Global Payments has a 52-week low of $95.12 and a 52-week high of $141.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 10.22%. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Global Payments will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.46%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Waverly Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 60.5% in the 3rd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 19,593 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 7,387 shares during the period. Shaker Investments LLC OH acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,815,000. AFS Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 19,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,479,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Finally, Redwood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $774,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.