PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Sunday morning.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on PYPL. TD Cowen upped their price target on PayPal from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on PayPal from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus upgraded shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of PayPal from $74.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.45.

PayPal Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $79.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $79.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.91, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.43. PayPal has a 12-month low of $53.55 and a 12-month high of $83.70. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $76.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.13. PayPal had a net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 23.44%. The business had revenue of $7.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.88 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that PayPal will post 4.56 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PYPL. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in PayPal by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,636,644 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $501,184,000 after acquiring an additional 276,287 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of PayPal by 28.1% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 8,511,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $493,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,925 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 180.7% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,946,460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $287,043,000 after purchasing an additional 3,184,160 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,189,947 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $248,912,000 after purchasing an additional 364,851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,166,795 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $183,789,000 after purchasing an additional 409,322 shares during the period. 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.