Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Has Lowered Expectations for Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Stock Price

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its price objective lowered by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price indicates a potential upside of 37.34% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on GPN. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stephens cut shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Global Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.10.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE:GPN opened at $98.30 on Monday. Global Payments has a 52-week low of $90.99 and a 52-week high of $129.35. The company has a market cap of $24.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $103.30 and its 200-day moving average is $107.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Global Payments will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Global Payments by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,995,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,800,952,000 after purchasing an additional 179,195 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,298,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $929,969,000 after acquiring an additional 1,659,984 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Global Payments by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,230,322 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $696,362,000 after purchasing an additional 301,877 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Global Payments by 1.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $564,437,000 after purchasing an additional 83,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $345,823,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

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.