PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Down 0.1% on Analyst Downgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) shares traded down 0.1% during trading on Wednesday after Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their price target on the stock from $120.00 to $90.00. Monness Crespi & Hardt currently has a buy rating on the stock. PayPal traded as low as $56.63 and last traded at $57.33. 3,633,375 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 11,357,330 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.41.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on PayPal from $85.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America raised shares of 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. Macquarie raised their target price on shares of PayPal from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.32.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in PayPal by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in PayPal by 344.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in PayPal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Stock Down 5.3 %

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 firm has a market capitalization of $59.91 billion, a PE ratio of 15.10, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $70.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.87.

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

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.