Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Stock Price

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) had its target price hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $166.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the business services provider's stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on GPN. Barclays upped their price objective on Global Payments from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. BTIG Research downgraded Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on Global Payments in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $138.55.

Global Payments Stock Down 3.3 %

GPN traded down $3.73 on Wednesday, hitting $110.97. 1,782,121 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,255,750. Global Payments has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $141.77. The company has a market cap of $28.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $110.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.77.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stanley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 18.9% in the second quarter. Stanley Capital Management LLC now owns 125,608 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $12,146,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 65.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $203,047,000 after acquiring an additional 785,539 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter worth about $562,000. Poplar Forest Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter worth about $13,184,000. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 158.6% in the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 491,331 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $50,322,000 after acquiring an additional 301,358 shares in 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.