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

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors purchased 4,666 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 76% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,645 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,760,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 28,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,164,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in Global Payments by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 992 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stephens lowered shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America cut their price target on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

Global Payments Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:GPN traded down $1.56 during trading on Friday, hitting $97.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 533,220 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,036,136. The company has a market capitalization of $24.07 billion, a PE ratio of 15.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97. Global Payments has a fifty-two week low of $90.99 and a fifty-two week high of $133.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $103.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.44.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. As a group, research analysts expect that Global Payments will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

About Global Payments

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.