Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty-nine brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $111.65.

GPN has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Monday, April 21st. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a "peer perform" rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $84.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 14th.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $725,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $267,000. Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 186,934 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $20,948,000 after purchasing an additional 1,783 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 126,430 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $14,168,000 after purchasing an additional 32,498 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Trading Up 3.4%

Shares of NYSE GPN traded up $2.81 during trading on Thursday, hitting $85.86. 3,422,400 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,830,703. Global Payments has a 1 year low of $65.93 and a 1 year high of $120.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $78.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.73 by $0.09. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 12.33%. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.59 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Global Payments will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Global Payments's payout ratio is 16.13%.

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.