PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stock Price Up 0.3% – Here’s Why

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s share price shot up 0.3% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $69.38 and last traded at $68.19. 3,104,581 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 12,172,038 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.98.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PYPL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of PayPal from $92.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of PayPal from $94.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $86.00 to $103.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.03.

PayPal Stock Up 0.9 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $67.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.10, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $81.05 and its 200-day moving average is $81.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.48 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other PayPal news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total transaction of $176,478.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,145,308.10. This represents a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PayPal during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,086,508,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 12,919.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 108.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,924,106 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,529,823,000 after purchasing an additional 9,313,783 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 86.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,762,080 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,307,945,000 after purchasing an additional 7,767,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 284.0% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,804,334 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $666,100,000 after purchasing an additional 5,772,198 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.