PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Arete Research

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) was downgraded by analysts at Arete Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

PYPL has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of PayPal from $85.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. BTIG Research reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Macquarie upped their price objective on PayPal from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.03.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of PYPL stock opened at $65.15 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $76.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.73. The stock has a market cap of $64.45 billion, a PE ratio of 16.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. PayPal has a 12 month low of $56.97 and a 12 month high of $93.66.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. PayPal had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 23.67%. The business had revenue of $8.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. PayPal’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that PayPal will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total value of $176,478.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at $2,145,308.10. The trade was a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd purchased a new position in shares of PayPal during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in PayPal by 344.3% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 351 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is 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.