Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on GPN. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Stephens decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. William Blair lowered Global Payments from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Global Payments from $164.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $137.41.

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE GPN traded down $1.30 on Thursday, hitting $115.77. The stock had a trading volume of 1,957,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,267,966. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $109.08 and a 200-day moving average of $104.37. The company has a market capitalization of $29.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. Global Payments has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $141.77.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Global Payments's payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 3.4% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,638,862 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $679,952,000 after acquiring an additional 215,399 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Global Payments by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,445 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $605,078,000 after purchasing an additional 31,934 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $564,437,000 after buying an additional 83,481 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $271,090,000 after buying an additional 490,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $203,047,000 after buying an additional 785,539 shares during the last quarter. 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.