Global Payments Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:GPN)

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors bought 15,825 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 561% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,393 put options.

Global Payments Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:GPN traded up $1.50 during trading on Monday, hitting $77.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,079,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,683,551. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Global Payments has a fifty-two week low of $61.16 and a fifty-two week high of $90.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $70.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.97. The company has a market capitalization of $21.21 billion, a PE ratio of -38.04, a PEG ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.76.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.14. Global Payments had a positive return on equity of 13.11% and a negative net margin of 7.99%.The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. Global Payments’s quarterly revenue was up 63.1% on a year-over-year basis. Global Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.800-14.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Global Payments will post 13.84 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is -49.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GPN. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Barclays began coverage on Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $81.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $88.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Global Payments from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set a “market perform” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gtcr LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,911,939,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at about $276,014,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Global Payments by 112.3% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,281,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $189,545,000 after buying an additional 1,206,807 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in Global Payments by 5,710.5% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 941,299 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $72,857,000 after buying an additional 925,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 93.8% during the 4th quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,412,128 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $109,299,000 after buying an additional 683,524 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Global Payments

Global Payments Inc (NYSE: GPN) is a worldwide provider of payment technology and software solutions that enables commerce for merchants, issuers and enterprises. The company develops and operates payment processing networks, point-of-sale systems and cloud-based software that facilitate electronic transactions across in-store, online and mobile channels. Its services span merchant acquiring, payment gateway services, omnichannel commerce platforms, and solutions for recurring and subscription billing.

Global Payments offers a range of products and services including integrated payment terminals and point-of-sale software, e-commerce and gateway technologies, fraud prevention and tokenization tools, and business analytics and reporting.