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

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

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN stock opened at $108.97 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $27.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $111.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Global Payments has a 1-year low of $91.60 and a 1-year high of $141.77.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $135.71.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 5,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth approximately $345,823,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 25.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Focused Investors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth $99,969,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $203,047,000 after buying an additional 785,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 1,559.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 548,833 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,502,000 after buying an additional 515,763 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

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.