PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading Up 1.9% on Analyst Upgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) shares were up 1.9% during trading on Monday after Susquehanna raised their price target on the stock from $94.00 to $101.00. Susquehanna currently has a positive rating on the stock. PayPal traded as high as $89.53 and last traded at $89.30. Approximately 2,092,401 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 4,664,614 shares. The stock had previously closed at $87.60.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on PYPL. Phillip Securities restated an “accumulate” rating and set a $90.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of PayPal in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of PayPal from $72.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of PayPal from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Stephens raised their price target on shares of PayPal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one 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 an average price target of $88.65.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in PayPal by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,644 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,992 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,509 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,182,316 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $92,256,000 after buying an additional 24,193 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 3rd quarter worth $53,586,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Stock Up 1.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $89.53 billion, a PE ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $85.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.94.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.88 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.44% and a net margin of 14.08%. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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.