Macquarie Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stock

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) had its price objective boosted by investment analysts at Macquarie from $115.00 to $117.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Macquarie’s price objective points to a potential upside of 53.52% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of PayPal from $80.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on PayPal from $90.00 to $79.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America raised PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $86.00 to $103.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of PayPal from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on PayPal from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.52.

PayPal Trading Down 2.6 %

PayPal stock opened at $76.21 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $75.39 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $87.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.93. PayPal has a one year low of $56.97 and a one year high of $93.66.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in PayPal by 12,919.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 10,500,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $819,315,000 after buying an additional 10,419,351 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,762,080 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,307,945,000 after acquiring an additional 7,767,072 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PayPal in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $387,435,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 174.1% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,233,341 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $361,316,000 after purchasing an additional 2,689,162 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $135,537,000. 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.