Traders Purchase Large Volume of Global Payments Put Options (NYSE:GPN)

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 7,593 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 112% compared to the typical volume of 3,588 put options.

More Global Payments News

Here are the key news stories impacting Global Payments this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Management raised FY‑2026 guidance above the Street and slightly beat Q4 EPS, driving optimism about earnings trajectory and margin improvement. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The board approved a $2.5 billion share-buyback program (with $550M in accelerated repurchases) and declared a quarterly dividend, both of which improve shareholder returns and supported the recent rally. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst responses are mixed: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its price target to $90 (market‑perform), while some firms like UBS remain cautious with Hold ratings — signaling limited near‑term upside from broker sentiment alone. Article Title Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue growth was muted (roughly +1.4% y/y and roughly in line with estimates) and the company noted elevated costs; some coverage frames the quarter as “meet” rather than a clean beat, leaving valuation and margin execution in focus. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: After the outsized two-day rally (double-digit gains), the stock is experiencing a pullback likely driven by profit‑taking and short‑term rotation; investors should watch execution on Worldpay integration and whether buybacks materially offset dilution/earnings volatility. No link

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $85.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Global Payments from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday. Citigroup upgraded shares of Global Payments to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.80.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPN traded down $1.25 on Thursday, reaching $80.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,190,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,640,548. Global Payments has a 52-week low of $65.93 and a 52-week high of $106.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.20, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $76.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 19.68%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.85 EPS. Global Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.800-14.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Global Payments will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP David M. Sheffield sold 2,016 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total transaction of $164,122.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,175,397.58. This represents a 12.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. bought 10,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $81.42 per share, with a total value of $846,116.64. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 59,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,828,450.26. This trade represents a 21.25% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Pettee Investors Inc. lifted its position in Global Payments by 24.1% during the second quarter. Pettee Investors Inc. now owns 15,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,254,000 after buying an additional 3,040 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in Global Payments by 260.5% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 29,446 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,446,000 after purchasing an additional 21,278 shares during the last quarter. BIP Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 151.6% in the 3rd quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 30,103 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,501,000 after purchasing an additional 18,138 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth $905,000. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 213.9% in the 3rd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 36,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,062,000 after buying an additional 25,118 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

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.