William Blair Downgrades Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) to Market Perform

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) was downgraded by stock analysts at William Blair from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on GPN. BTIG Research downgraded Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $124.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $172.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Global Payments from $152.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.36.

Global Payments Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:GPN opened at $97.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Global Payments has a one year low of $91.60 and a one year high of $141.77. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.61. The company has a market cap of $24.93 billion, a PE ratio of 19.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.98.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 11.93%. Global Payments’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Global Payments will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $166,305.23. Following the completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Global Payments by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 22,795 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,895,000 after acquiring an additional 904 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 14,978 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 3,294 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 10,634 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 73.9% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 5,924 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $752,000 after purchasing an additional 2,517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Global Payments by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 115,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,635,000 after purchasing an additional 5,833 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.