Traders Buy High Volume of Global Payments Put Options (NYSE:GPN)

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders purchased 15,832 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 498% compared to the average volume of 2,649 put options.

Global Payments Trading Down 1.3%

GPN traded down $0.83 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $64.26. 654,630 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,694,236. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Global Payments has a one year low of $61.16 and a one year high of $90.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.49, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.70.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.81 billion. Global Payments had a positive return on equity of 13.11% and a negative net margin of 7.99%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.82 EPS. Global Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.800-14.000 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Global Payments will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently -49.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on GPN shares. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $88.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $74.00 price target (down from $86.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.87.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westpac Banking Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 5,795.1% in the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 57,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,426,000 after buying an additional 56,212 shares during the last quarter. Moore Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 13.3% in the third quarter. Moore Capital Management LP now owns 231,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $19,208,000 after buying an additional 27,200 shares in the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Global Payments by 11.1% during the third quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 681,094 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,585,000 after buying an additional 68,071 shares during the last quarter. Jain Global LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the third quarter worth $10,656,000. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Global Payments by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,409,697 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $883,111,000 after buying an additional 500,887 shares during 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.