Global Payments Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:GPN)

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors acquired 10,237 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 86% compared to the typical volume of 5,518 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GPN. AIA Group Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $349,000. Oribel Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of 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 worth $58,417,000 after acquiring an additional 433,700 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of 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 worth $5,682,000 after acquiring an additional 26,104 shares in the last quarter. Focused Investors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $99,969,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 88.6% in the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 892,958 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $100,065,000 after acquiring an additional 419,443 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Trading Down 4.7%

Shares of Global Payments stock opened at $74.59 on Friday. Global Payments has a 1 year low of $65.93 and a 1 year high of $120.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $18.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.07, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s fifty day moving average is $78.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.78.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.73 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.59 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Global Payments will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America dropped their price target on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. TD Cowen lowered Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $86.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Global Payments from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.91.

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.