Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) PT Lowered to $157.00

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its target price decreased by equities research analysts at Susquehanna from $160.00 to $157.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “positive” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Susquehanna’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 40.97% from the company’s current price.

GPN has been the topic of several other reports. TheStreet upgraded Global Payments from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $129.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Global Payments has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.00.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPN traded up $0.83 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $111.37. 3,191,218 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,029,470. Global Payments has a 52 week low of $95.12 and a 52 week high of $141.77. The firm has a market cap of $28.43 billion, a PE ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $127.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Global Payments will post 10.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GPN. FMR LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 40.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,346,779 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,078,525,000 after purchasing an additional 2,703,434 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in Global Payments by 40.5% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,142,771 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $591,613,000 after acquiring an additional 1,481,714 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Global Payments by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,087,801 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $646,151,000 after acquiring an additional 132,635 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Global Payments by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,499,860 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $403,849,000 after purchasing an additional 116,664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 2.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,402,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $392,657,000 after purchasing an additional 89,057 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.