Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Global Payments (NYSE:GPN)

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Investors bought 4,666 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 76% compared to the average daily volume of 2,645 call options.

Global Payments Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of GPN traded down $1.92 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $97.55. 1,830,084 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,148,215. The business has a fifty day moving average of $103.72 and a 200-day moving average of $107.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. Global Payments has a 1-year low of $90.99 and a 1-year high of $133.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

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

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America cut their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens downgraded shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price target (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,995,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,800,952,000 after buying an additional 179,195 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,298,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $929,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659,984 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Global Payments by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,230,322 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $696,362,000 after purchasing an additional 301,877 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 1.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $564,437,000 after purchasing an additional 83,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $345,823,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.