Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Global Payments Call Options (NYSE:GPN)

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 9,654 call options on the company. This is an increase of 134% compared to the typical volume of 4,118 call options.

Global Payments Stock Up 3.9 %

Shares of GPN traded up $4.19 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $111.56. The stock had a trading volume of 423,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,276,901. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $28.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.75. Global Payments has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 13.61%. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Global Payments will post 11.05 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $166,305.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GPN. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 114.3% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 66,570 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,818,000 after acquiring an additional 35,512 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 143,585 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,706,000 after purchasing an additional 11,138 shares during the last quarter. First National Trust Co increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 1.0% during the third quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 38,682 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,962,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Global Payments during the third quarter worth $562,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Global Payments by 96.9% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 25,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,580,000 after buying an additional 12,395 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GPN. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $147.00 target price on shares of Global Payments in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. BTIG Research downgraded Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Global Payments has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $136.50.

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.