Prudential PLC Increases Stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Prudential PLC lifted its position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 43.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 40,421 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,242 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in PayPal were worth $3,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 113.8% during the 4th quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 7,470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $638,000 after buying an additional 3,976 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in PayPal in the third quarter worth $387,435,000. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. lifted its holdings in PayPal by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 697,077 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $59,489,000 after acquiring an additional 18,172 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 223.1% during the 4th quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 265,048 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $22,622,000 after purchasing an additional 183,011 shares in the last quarter. Finally, StoneX Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 27,249 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,326,000 after purchasing an additional 11,260 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of PayPal stock opened at $58.37 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $73.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.58. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $56.97 and a twelve month high of $93.66. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $57.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.56, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.60.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PYPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com upgraded PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Macquarie lifted their price objective on PayPal from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Arete Research set a $81.00 target price on PayPal in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.13.

PayPal Company Profile

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.