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

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its target price decreased by Citigroup from $163.00 to $155.00 in a research note published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Global Payments from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Global Payments from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $160.00 to $157.00 and set a positive rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock 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 $0.80 on Thursday, reaching $111.34. 3,191,128 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,280,260. The business’s 50-day moving average is $127.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Global Payments has a fifty-two week low of $95.12 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.97.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. Global Payments’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Global Payments will post 10.94 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 19.84%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its position in Global Payments by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 564 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 60.5% during the third quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 19,593 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,261,000 after buying an additional 7,387 shares in the last quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH acquired a new position in Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at $1,815,000. AFS Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at $202,000. Finally, Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in Global Payments by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 19,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,479,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.