Robert W. Baird Trims Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Target Price to $150.00

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its price target reduced by Robert W. Baird from $182.00 to $150.00 in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Global Payments from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Global Payments from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Global Payments from $138.00 to $137.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Global Payments from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $150.00.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN traded up $0.83 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $111.37. 3,191,218 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,029,470. The stock has a market cap of $28.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $127.93 and a 200-day moving average of $124.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.92. Global Payments has a 52 week low of $95.12 and a 52 week high of $141.77.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 54.5% in the 1st 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, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 77.7% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 407 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.