PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stock Price Up 0.7% on Analyst Upgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) shot up 0.7% during mid-day trading on Friday after StockNews.com upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The company traded as high as $80.43 and last traded at $80.36. 1,872,385 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 13,639,943 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.82.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of PayPal from $74.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group increased their target price on PayPal from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on PayPal from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. William Blair upgraded PayPal to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.03.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,636,644 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $501,184,000 after purchasing an additional 276,287 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in PayPal by 28.1% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 8,511,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $493,907,000 after buying an additional 1,866,925 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in PayPal by 180.7% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,946,460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $287,043,000 after buying an additional 3,184,160 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in PayPal by 14.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 409,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 3,046,502 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $176,789,000 after acquiring an additional 146,643 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PayPal Trading Up 1.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $74.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.62.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.20. PayPal had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 22.82%. The business had revenue of $7.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.42 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.