On July 21, Global Payments rose 5.92% in regular trading, trading at approximately $82.41/share, with turnover of $145 million. The rally was driven by Morgan Stanley's upgrade of the stock from Equal Weight to Overweight on July 20, accompanied by a significant target price increase from $65 to $100, implying roughly 21% upside from current levels.
The upgrade follows a period of solid fundamental execution. Global Payments reported Q1 adjusted EPS of $2.96, beating consensus estimates by 4.59%, while revenue of $2.97 billion also exceeded expectations. The company maintained its full-year adjusted EPS guidance in the range of $13.80 to $14.00. The current analyst consensus target price stands at $93.27, with the overall street rating leaning toward Overweight. Earlier this year, Autonomous Research maintained an Outperform rating with a $102 target, while Barclays initiated coverage in early July with an Equal Weight rating and $81 target.
(The above content is based on publicly available market information, generated by a program or algorithm, and is intended solely as a stock movement alert. It does not constitute investment advice or a basis for trading decisions.)