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

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 6,120 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 77% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,456 call options.

Global Payments Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of GPN traded up $0.49 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $107.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 775,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,525,504. Global Payments has a twelve month low of $91.60 and a twelve month high of $141.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $27.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a fifty day moving average of $111.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cromwell Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. purchased a new position in Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GPN shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays boosted their price target on Global Payments from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Stephens cut 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 report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $135.71.

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.