Citigroup Cuts Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Price Target to $135.00

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its price target lowered by Citigroup from $138.00 to $135.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price objective (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stephens cut Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.9 %

GPN stock opened at $105.65 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $26.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.10, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01. Global Payments has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $140.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $110.16 and a 200-day moving average of $108.75.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Global Payments will post 12.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 16.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cromwell Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.