Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Global Payments from $164.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Oppenheimer began coverage on Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $136.50.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.8 %

Global Payments stock opened at $116.36 on Tuesday. Global Payments has a 12-month low of $91.60 and a 12-month high of $141.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $104.69 and a 200 day moving average of $103.40.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Global Payments by 3.4% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,638,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $679,952,000 after buying an additional 215,399 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in Global Payments by 0.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,797,677 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $639,967,000 after buying an additional 12,196 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Global Payments by 65.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $203,047,000 after buying an additional 785,539 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Global Payments by 10.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,957,914 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $189,307,000 after buying an additional 193,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Global Payments by 3.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,541,541 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $157,885,000 after buying an additional 44,296 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.