PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading Up 0.3% – Here’s Why

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s share price shot up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $69.62 and last traded at $69.88. 2,772,273 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 10,889,311 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.67.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on PYPL. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of PayPal from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays increased their price objective on PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Macquarie boosted their target price on PayPal from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.03.

PayPal Trading Up 0.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $69.08 billion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.81.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. PayPal’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total value of $176,478.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at $2,145,308.10. This represents a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Norges Bank bought a new position in PayPal in the 4th quarter worth $1,086,508,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in PayPal by 108.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,924,106 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,529,823,000 after acquiring an additional 9,313,783 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in PayPal by 86.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,762,080 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,307,945,000 after purchasing an additional 7,767,072 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of PayPal by 284.0% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,804,334 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $666,100,000 after buying an additional 5,772,198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $387,435,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

About PayPal

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a technology platform that enables digital payments on behalf of merchants and consumers worldwide. It operates a two-sided network at scale that connects merchants and consumers that enables its customers to connect, transact, and send and receive payments through online and in person, as well as transfer and withdraw funds using various funding sources, such as bank accounts, PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products comprising its installment products, credit and debit cards, and cryptocurrencies, as well as other stored value products, including gift cards and eligible rewards.