Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have given a hold recommendation and sixteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $138.09.

A number of research firms recently commented on GPN. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. BTIG Research cut Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $147.00 target price on shares of Global Payments in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN stock opened at $114.70 on Wednesday. Global Payments has a 12-month low of $91.60 and a 12-month high of $141.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.77.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cromwell Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Global Payments by 59.6% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 383 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by 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.