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

Key Points

• Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) experienced a significant increase in options trading, with 7,096 call options traded, an increase of approximately 91% compared to the usual volume.
• Several research firms have revised their price targets for Global Payments, with UBS Group raising theirs from $85.00 to $93.00 while TD Cowen downgraded the stock to a "hold" rating.
• The company announced a $0.25 quarterly dividend, representing a 1.1% dividend yield, with a payout ratio of 17.48% and the dividend paid to stockholders of record on September 12th.

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 7,096 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 91% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,720 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on GPN. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Global Payments from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. TD Cowen downgraded Global Payments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $100.00 target price (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $103.75.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $172,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 30,713 shares in the company, valued at $2,641,318. This represents a 6.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Global Payments by 32.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,050,253 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $884,462,000 after purchasing an additional 2,716,156 shares during the last quarter. Glenview Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 13.8% in the second quarter. Glenview Capital Management LLC now owns 4,316,892 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $345,524,000 after purchasing an additional 523,209 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the second quarter valued at approximately $273,844,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 5.0% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,070,960 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $165,760,000 after buying an additional 98,815 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 77.5% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 2,001,585 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $186,107,000 after buying an additional 874,175 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE GPN traded up $0.91 on Tuesday, hitting $88.09. 1,642,183 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,728,091. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $85.42 and a 200 day moving average of $82.49. Global Payments has a twelve month low of $65.93 and a twelve month high of $120.00. The company has a market capitalization of $21.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.98.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.04. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.47% and a net margin of 15.07%.The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. The business's revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Global Payments will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is 17.48%.

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.

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