Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms Hold Rating for PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Needham & Company LLC restated their hold rating on shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com upgraded PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Phillip Securities reiterated an “accumulate” rating and issued a $90.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of PayPal in a report on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie upped their target price on PayPal from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on PayPal from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.03.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of PayPal stock opened at $71.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $70.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.44. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $83.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.94. PayPal has a one year low of $56.97 and a one year high of $93.66.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. The firm 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.48 EPS. Equities analysts expect that PayPal will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In other news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at $2,145,308.10. This represents a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC boosted its position in PayPal by 113.8% during the fourth quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 7,470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 3,976 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in PayPal during the third quarter worth approximately $387,435,000. United Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in PayPal during the third quarter worth approximately $810,000. Equity Investment Corp boosted its position in PayPal by 3.5% during the third quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,998,298 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $155,927,000 after purchasing an additional 67,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weil Company Inc. boosted its position in PayPal by 68.9% during the third quarter. Weil Company Inc. now owns 41,689 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,253,000 after purchasing an additional 17,003 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

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.