PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading 1.9% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s stock price rose 1.9% during mid-day trading on Monday after Macquarie raised their price target on the stock from $115.00 to $117.00. Macquarie currently has an outperform rating on the stock. PayPal traded as high as $78.92 and last traded at $78.80. Approximately 3,276,677 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 11,112,986 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.31.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on PYPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on PayPal from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group upped their price target on PayPal from $72.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America raised PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $86.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of PayPal from $80.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of PayPal from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PayPal presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.52.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in PayPal by 12,919.4% during 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 86.3% during the third 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 in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the third quarter valued at about $387,435,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in shares of PayPal by 174.1% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,233,341 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $361,316,000 after purchasing an additional 2,689,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in PayPal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $135,537,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $75.39 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.44. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.93.

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

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.