PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Up 0.9% After Analyst Upgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) was up 0.9% on Monday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on the stock from $92.00 to $104.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the stock. PayPal traded as high as $90.04 and last traded at $89.88. Approximately 6,955,544 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 18% from the average daily volume of 8,477,434 shares. The stock had previously closed at $89.05.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on PYPL. UBS Group lifted their price objective on PayPal from $72.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities reiterated an “accumulate” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of PayPal in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on PayPal from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of PayPal from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Sixteen 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.70.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 7.4% in the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,810 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. First United Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. First United Bank & Trust now owns 2,395 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in PayPal by 3.3% in the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 4,724 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $369,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Laraway Financial Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of PayPal by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Laraway Financial Advisors Inc now owns 4,228 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 50.6% during the second quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 497 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $88.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.18, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $82.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.58.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.13. PayPal had a net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 23.44%. The firm had revenue of $7.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. PayPal’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.57 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.