Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at William Blair

William Blair upgraded shares of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on Global Payments from $163.00 to $155.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays lowered their target price on Global Payments from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Global Payments from $172.00 to $158.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Stephens reduced their price target on Global Payments from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Global Payments from $129.00 to $105.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $142.04.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE GPN traded down $2.00 on Wednesday, hitting $102.06. 2,125,447 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,308,252. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $97.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $115.28. Global Payments has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. The firm has a market cap of $26.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.98.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 13.40%. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Global Payments will post 11.09 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $166,305.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,087.63. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GPN. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Global Payments in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Global Payments in the first quarter worth about $32,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 54.5% in the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.