PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stock Price Up 1.7% Following Analyst Upgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s share price was up 1.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $76.00 to $90.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. PayPal traded as high as $88.42 and last traded at $86.88. Approximately 2,580,144 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 12,966,967 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.45.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on PayPal from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Macquarie increased their price target on PayPal from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on PayPal from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of PayPal from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut PayPal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, PayPal has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.42.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in PayPal by 23.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,877 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in PayPal during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in PayPal by 200.4% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 1,022 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its position in PayPal by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 15,771 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $915,000 after buying an additional 1,258 shares during the period. Finally, Hills Bank & Trust Co grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 58.2% in the second quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 12,668 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $735,000 after acquiring an additional 4,660 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Stock Up 0.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $87.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $84.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.13.

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