Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Trading Down 3%

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)’s share price traded down 3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $129.90 and last traded at $130.18. 687,695 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 2,353,173 shares. The stock had previously closed at $134.19.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush upped their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Global Payments from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Global Payments from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Global Payments from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.92.

Global Payments Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $34.10 billion, a PE ratio of 35.36, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business has a fifty day moving average of $132.86 and a 200-day moving average of $123.60.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion for 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%. Global Payments’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 26.46%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GPN. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Global Payments by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,136 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $840,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,942 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $539,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,288,788 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $176,366,000 after buying an additional 48,605 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 259.7% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 17,285 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,377,000 after buying an additional 12,479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 1st quarter worth approximately $766,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently 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.