Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Grows Stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 22.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,046 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,388 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $3,515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PYPL. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 234,147 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $15,686,000 after acquiring an additional 36,994 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 197.3% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 82,620 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,535,000 after purchasing an additional 54,832 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 23.3% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 23,463 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,572,000 after purchasing an additional 4,434 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 33.8% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 77,308 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,179,000 after purchasing an additional 19,510 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 168,866 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,312,000 after purchasing an additional 21,047 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Stock Performance

PayPal stock opened at $79.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $76.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.56. The company has a market capitalization of $82.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.97, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.44. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.80 and a fifty-two week high of $83.70.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.12. PayPal had a return on equity of 22.82% and a net margin of 14.30%. The business had revenue of $7.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PYPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on PayPal from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays upped their target price on PayPal from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on PayPal from $70.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.03.

About PayPal

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.