Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts rate GPN a "Hold" — 24 analysts cover the stock (2 sell, 15 hold, 6 buy, 1 strong buy) with an average 12‑month price target of $91.52.
• Recent quarter and guidance: Q4 EPS was $3.18 (beat by $0.02) on $2.32B revenue, and the company set FY2026 guidance of $13.80–$14.00 EPS.
• Institutional and insider activity: Norges Bank initiated a ~$276M stake and institutional ownership is ~89.8%, while director Robert H.B. Baldwin Jr. bought 10,392 shares and an EVP sold 2,016 shares.

Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty-four analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fifteen have assigned a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $91.5238.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GPN. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $87.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Evercore decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $90.00 to $85.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Global Payments from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 10,392 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $81.42 per share, with a total value of $846,116.64. Following the transaction, the director owned 59,303 shares in the company, valued at $4,828,450.26. The trade was a 21.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP David M. Sheffield sold 2,016 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total value of $164,122.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,438 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,175,397.58. This represents a 12.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth $276,014,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 112.3% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,281,476 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $189,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206,807 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 5,710.5% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 941,299 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $72,857,000 after purchasing an additional 925,099 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in Global Payments by 93.8% in the 4th quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,412,128 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $109,299,000 after purchasing an additional 683,524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Global Payments by 117.3% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,207,277 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $93,443,000 after buying an additional 651,671 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE:GPN opened at $78.32 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Global Payments has a twelve month low of $65.93 and a twelve month high of $101.32. The company has a fifty day moving average of $75.40 and a 200-day moving average of $80.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.73.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.16 by $0.02. Global Payments had a net margin of 16.92% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.85 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Global Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.800-14.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Global Payments will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Global Payments's payout ratio is presently 17.27%.

About Global Payments

Global Payments Inc NYSE: GPN is a worldwide provider of payment technology and software solutions that enables commerce for merchants, issuers and enterprises. The company develops and operates payment processing networks, point-of-sale systems and cloud-based software that facilitate electronic transactions across in-store, online and mobile channels. Its services span merchant acquiring, payment gateway services, omnichannel commerce platforms, and solutions for recurring and subscription billing.

Global Payments offers a range of products and services including integrated payment terminals and point-of-sale software, e-commerce and gateway technologies, fraud prevention and tokenization tools, and business analytics and reporting.

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