BMO Capital Markets Increases Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Price Target to $126.00

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its price objective lifted by BMO Capital Markets from $124.00 to $126.00 in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on GPN. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $172.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Global Payments from $119.00 to $111.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Global Payments from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $141.92.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of GPN stock traded up $0.19 on Thursday, hitting $102.25. The stock had a trading volume of 418,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,295,981. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Global Payments has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $141.77. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $97.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $115.17. The firm has a market cap of $26.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.25, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $166,305.23. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,068,087.63. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other 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.