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

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 10,237 put options on the company. This is an increase of 86% compared to the average daily volume of 5,518 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AIA Group Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at about $349,000. Oribel Capital Management LP boosted its position in Global Payments by 495.1% in the fourth quarter. Oribel Capital Management LP now owns 521,300 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $58,417,000 after buying an additional 433,700 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Global Payments by 106.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 50,705 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,682,000 after buying an additional 26,104 shares during the last quarter. Focused Investors LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $99,969,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its position in Global Payments by 88.6% in the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 892,958 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $100,065,000 after buying an additional 419,443 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "hold" rating and a $79.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $105.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $110.91.

Global Payments Stock Down 1.8%

Global Payments stock traded down $1.42 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $78.21. The stock had a trading volume of 2,702,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,479,171. The company has a market cap of $19.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The business's 50 day moving average price is $78.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.35. Global Payments has a 52 week low of $65.93 and a 52 week high of $120.00.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.73 by $0.09. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Global Payments will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.13%.

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.