PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading Up 4.7%

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) rose 4.7% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $76.79 and last traded at $76.54. Approximately 6,562,781 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 13,964,857 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PYPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on PayPal from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of PayPal from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of PayPal from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Macquarie upped their price target on PayPal from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.58.

PayPal Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $66.33 and its 200-day moving average is $64.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.20. PayPal had a return on equity of 22.82% and a net margin of 14.30%. The business had revenue of $7.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in PayPal by 36.2% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 9,659 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $593,000 after acquiring an additional 2,569 shares during the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its holdings in PayPal by 36.4% in the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 16,579 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after buying an additional 4,426 shares during the last quarter. Balentine LLC bought a new position in PayPal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $266,000. Sachetta LLC acquired a new position in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 198.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 429,954 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,403,000 after acquiring an additional 285,847 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

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.