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

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. They currently have a buy rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $182.00 to $150.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $158.00 to $150.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered Global Payments from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday. B. Riley upped their price target on Global Payments from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $150.00.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Global Payments stock traded up $0.80 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $111.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,191,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,280,260. The company has a market capitalization of $28.40 billion, a PE ratio of 22.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $127.93 and a 200 day moving average of $124.72. Global Payments has a 12 month low of $95.12 and a 12 month high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.01. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 13.40%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.30 EPS. Global Payments’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Global Payments will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 54.5% during the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its stake in Global Payments by 154.7% in the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 354 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

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.