We recently published a list of 15 Most Crowded Hedge Fund Stocks That Are Targeted by Short Sellers. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) stands against other most crowded hedge fund stocks that are targeted by short sellers.
Hedge funds piling into a stock is a signal of conviction. After all, if institutional investors are backing a company, there has to be a good reason for it, right?
Things get interesting when the same stock ends up with a high short interest. Where some investors back the company to become successful, others bet on its downfall. This contradiction is often eagerly tracked by investors, as it can potentially lead to explosive moves to either side.
Consider, for instance, a scenario where a stock with a high short interest and a high hedge fund holding starts going up. As everyone rushes to buy more of the already popular stock, short sellers rush to close their positions, triggering a strong bull rally.
We decided to shortlist stocks that were the most likely candidates for such a rally. To come up with our list of 15 most crowded hedge fund stocks that are targeted by short sellers, we only considered stocks with a market cap of at least $1 billion and a short interest of at least 3%. We then ranked these stocks by the number of hedge funds that have the stock in their portfolio.
A payment terminal in action with customers apart of the experience.
Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 71
Short Interest: 3.14%
Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) operates as a software solutions and payment technology provider. The company operates in the Issuer Solutions and Merchant Solutions segments. It offers sales and deployment, authorization, customer support, reconciliation and dispute management, and other services.
RBC Capital Markets recently downgraded the stock from Outperform to Sector Perform, citing concerns over the company’s sale of the Issuer Solutions business and planned acquisition of Worldpay. The investment bank also lowered its target price from $139 to $86. Analysts are cautious over the deal’s potential success, highlighting potential distractions for management and execution risks.
Analyst Dan Perlin noted:
“We believe large ‘Scale Motivated’ transactions designed to protect an incumbent position and fend off more nimble innovators tend to be very long battles and haven’t proven to be overly successful.”
For 2025, the company expects adjusted net revenue growth of 5% to 6% on a constant currency basis. The Merchant Solutions segment is anticipated to grow around 6%, along with the Issuer Solutions division’s projected growth of approximately 4%. Adjusted operating margins are predicted to increase by 50 basis points for the year. Global Payments announced a share repurchase plan worth $250 million to optimize shareholders’ return.
Overall, GPN ranks 12th on our list of most crowded hedge fund stocks that are targeted by short sellers. While we acknowledge the potential of GPN as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than GPN but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
