Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Given New $155.00 Price Target at Citigroup

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

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on GPN. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $182.00 to $150.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $160.00 to $152.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Global Payments from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, Global Payments has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $150.00.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN traded up $0.83 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $111.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,191,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,029,470. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.69. The company has a market cap of $28.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.97. Global Payments has a 52-week low of $95.12 and a 52-week high of $141.77. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. Global Payments’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Global Payments will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GPN. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth about $365,933,000. FMR LLC lifted 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 valued at $1,078,525,000 after acquiring an additional 2,703,434 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Global Payments by 338.3% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,288,108 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $379,416,000 after acquiring an additional 2,537,941 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the third quarter worth about $197,875,000. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 40.5% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,142,771 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $591,613,000 after purchasing an additional 1,481,714 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.