Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Upgraded at Barclays

Key Points

• Barclays upgraded Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) to “hold”, adding to a mixed analyst backdrop that still leaves the stock with an overall consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.33.
• Recent earnings topped expectations: Global Payments reported $2.96 EPS versus the $2.82 estimate, with revenue of $2.86 billion beating forecasts, and it raised FY 2026 guidance to 13.800-14.000 EPS.
• The stock rose 1.8% to $74.35 in Tuesday trading, while institutional ownership remained high at 89.76% and analysts noted a wide range of opinions, including multiple recent downgrades and target cuts.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Barclays to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

GPN has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Global Payments from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Global Payments from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $81.00 to $76.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $83.33.

Global Payments Trading Up 1.8%

GPN opened at $74.35 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $20.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.45, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.76. Global Payments has a 12 month low of $61.16 and a 12 month high of $90.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $70.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.01.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.14. Global Payments had a positive return on equity of 13.11% and a negative net margin of 7.99%.The company had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.82 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 63.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Global Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.800-14.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Global Payments will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $725,000. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments during the first quarter worth $243,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 43.5% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 14,462 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,416,000 after purchasing an additional 4,386 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Global Payments by 7.3% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 41,577 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,327,000 after purchasing an additional 2,840 shares during the period. Finally, AXA S.A. lifted its position in Global Payments by 236.6% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 28,622 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,291,000 after purchasing an additional 20,119 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

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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