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

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) shot up 1.7% 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. 2,580,144 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 12,966,967 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.45.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on PYPL. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of PayPal from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on PayPal from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on PayPal from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on PayPal from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of PayPal from $72.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.42.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its holdings in PayPal by 7.4% during the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,810 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. First United Bank & Trust increased its stake in PayPal by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. First United Bank & Trust now owns 2,395 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $187,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in PayPal by 3.3% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 4,724 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $369,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Laraway Financial Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 3.8% in the third quarter. Laraway Financial Advisors Inc now owns 4,228 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $330,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of PayPal by 50.6% during the second quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 497 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Price Performance

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 $84.36 and a 200-day moving average of $72.87. The company has a market cap of $86.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.44.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 23.44%. PayPal’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict 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.