PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading 1.9% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s share price traded up 1.9% on Monday after Macquarie raised their price target on the stock from $115.00 to $117.00. Macquarie currently has an outperform rating on the stock. PayPal traded as high as $78.92 and last traded at $78.80. 3,276,677 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 11,112,986 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.31.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on PYPL. Bank of America raised PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $86.00 to $103.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of PayPal from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of PayPal from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.52.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 12,919.4% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 10,500,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $819,315,000 after purchasing an additional 10,419,351 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in PayPal by 86.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,762,080 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,307,945,000 after purchasing an additional 7,767,072 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 3rd quarter worth about $387,435,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in PayPal by 174.1% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,233,341 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $361,316,000 after purchasing an additional 2,689,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter worth $135,537,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $87.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.79. The company has a market capitalization of $77.40 billion, a PE ratio of 19.51, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.26.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 23.67%. PayPal’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.48 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 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.