Raymond James Cuts Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Price Target to $147.00

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its price objective cut by Raymond James from $155.00 to $147.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $126.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 22nd. UBS Group reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Friday, October 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $154.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Tuesday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Global Payments from $144.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $145.85.

Global Payments Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:GPN opened at $113.76 on Wednesday. Global Payments has a one year low of $92.27 and a one year high of $129.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $29.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $117.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.35.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 31st. The business services provider reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $2.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 9.23% and a return on equity of 11.28%. Global Payments’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.37 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Global Payments will post 9.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, insider David Lawrence Green sold 17,920 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.53, for a total transaction of $2,016,537.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 77,411 shares in the company, valued at $8,711,059.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider David Lawrence Green sold 17,920 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.53, for a total value of $2,016,537.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 77,411 shares in the company, valued at $8,711,059.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Joshua J. Whipple sold 37,096 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.28, for a total transaction of $4,721,578.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 39,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,062,180.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Glassman Wealth Services grew its holdings in Global Payments by 94.3% during the 1st quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 239 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Clear Street Markets LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Global Payments by 166.7% in the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

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 three segments: Merchant Solutions, Issuer Solutions, and Consumer 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.