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

William Blair cut shares of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. William Blair also issued estimates for Global Payments’ Q3 2024 earnings at $2.97 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $2.76 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $10.98 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $2.69 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $3.10 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $3.30 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $3.01 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $12.10 EPS.

GPN has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Global Payments from $172.00 to $158.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. BNP Paribas raised Global Payments to a strong sell rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. BTIG Research lowered shares of Global Payments from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday. Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $141.36.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN stock opened at $101.02 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $105.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.52. Global Payments has a one year low of $91.60 and a one year high of $141.77. The firm has a market cap of $25.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.98. 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 (NYSE:GPN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Global Payments will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.84%.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $166,305.23. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,087.63. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GPN. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Global Payments by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% during the first quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 34,435 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,603,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 54.5% during the first 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 period. KFG Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Global Payments by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,883 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in Global Payments by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,776,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.