Citigroup Lowers Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Price Target to $155.00

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by stock analysts at Citigroup from $163.00 to $155.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the business services provider's stock. Citigroup's price target indicates a potential upside of 39.21% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on GPN. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $128.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $129.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Global Payments presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $150.00.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN stock traded up $0.80 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $111.34. The company had a trading volume of 3,191,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,280,260. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $28.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.97. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $127.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.72. Global Payments has a 52-week low of $95.12 and a 52-week high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.01. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. Global Payments's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Global Payments will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 54.5% during the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Global Payments by 77.7% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 407 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Company Profile

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.