StockNews.com Downgrades Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) to Hold

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on GPN. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. William Blair lowered shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Global Payments to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Global Payments from $145.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $136.50.

Global Payments Price Performance

Global Payments stock opened at $114.72 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $29.20 billion, a PE ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $105.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.34. Global Payments has a one year low of $91.60 and a one year high of $141.77.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 194.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,423,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $621,149,000 after purchasing an additional 4,240,388 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 65.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $203,047,000 after buying an additional 785,539 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Global Payments by 188.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $109,857,000 after acquiring an additional 755,898 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $271,090,000 after acquiring an additional 490,411 shares during the period. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 316.7% in the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 609,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $58,981,000 after acquiring an additional 463,568 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

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.