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

Key Points

• Global Payments saw unusually heavy put option buying on Monday, with 15,825 puts traded versus a typical volume of 2,393 — a jump of 561%, suggesting bearish sentiment or hedging activity.
• The stock rose 2.0% to $77.53 in midday trading, though volume was below average. GPN is trading below its 52-week high of $90.64 but above its 52-week low of $61.16.
• Global Payments recently beat earnings and revenue expectations, posting $2.96 EPS on $2.86 billion in revenue, and it pays a quarterly dividend of $0.25. However, analysts are cautious overall, with a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.33.

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors acquired 15,825 put options on the company. This is an increase of 561% compared to the typical volume of 2,393 put options.

Global Payments Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE:GPN traded up $1.50 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $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's fifty day simple moving average is $70.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Global Payments has a twelve month low of $61.16 and a twelve month high of $90.64. The stock has a market cap of $21.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -38.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.76.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.14. Global Payments had a negative net margin of 7.99% and a positive return on equity of 13.11%. The company had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.82 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 63.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Global Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.800-14.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th were issued 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -49.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GPN. Argus dropped their price target on Global Payments from $100.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Global Payments from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $88.00 to $76.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "hold" rating and set a $74.00 price objective (down from $86.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $83.33.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Gtcr LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the first quarter worth about $2,911,939,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $276,014,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew 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 worth $189,545,000 after buying an additional 1,206,807 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 5,710.5% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 941,299 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $72,857,000 after acquiring an additional 925,099 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $109,299,000 after acquiring an additional 683,524 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently 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.

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