PayPal Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:PYPL)

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 107,187 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 11% compared to the average daily volume of 96,911 call options.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of PYPL opened at $78.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.70, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.44. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.48. PayPal has a twelve month low of $50.80 and a twelve month high of $83.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $7.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.88 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 22.82% and a net margin of 14.30%. PayPal’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that PayPal will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PYPL. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of PayPal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on PayPal from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on PayPal from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Argus raised PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded PayPal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.03.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its stake in PayPal by 77.5% during the 1st quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 394 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 125.3% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 437 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 65.8% in the 1st quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 466 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in PayPal during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC increased its position in PayPal by 50.6% during the second quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 497 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.