Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Price Target Lowered to $130.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its price target dropped by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $143.00 to $130.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target indicates a potential upside of 24.83% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on GPN. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Global Payments to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $147.00 target price on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Stephens lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, BTIG Research cut shares of Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $136.96.

Global Payments Stock Up 0.8 %

Global Payments stock traded up $0.81 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $104.14. 1,854,824 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,267,958. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $26.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.98. Global Payments has a 1-year low of $91.60 and a 1-year high of $141.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $104.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.37.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 11.93%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.48 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Global Payments will post 11.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $166,305.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 194.2% in the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,423,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $621,149,000 after purchasing an additional 4,240,388 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,797,677 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $639,967,000 after purchasing an additional 12,196 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,957,914 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $189,307,000 after purchasing an additional 193,137 shares during the period. Davis Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter. Davis Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,300,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $125,710,000 after buying an additional 200,000 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 188.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $109,857,000 after buying an additional 755,898 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.