Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Global Payments (NYSE:GPN)

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 9,654 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 134% compared to the average daily volume of 4,118 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Cromwell Holdings LLC bought a new position in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in shares of Global Payments in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the first quarter worth $32,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the second quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Trading Up 7.1 %

NYSE GPN opened at $115.04 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $103.83. Global Payments has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $141.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $29.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.97.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 13.61%. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. Global Payments’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Global Payments will post 11.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GPN shares. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. BTIG Research lowered shares of Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. B. Riley lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $204.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Global Payments from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.50.

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.