Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. Reduces Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. reduced its stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 272,264 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,959 shares during the period. PayPal accounts for 3.2% of Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $23,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC grew its stake in PayPal by 113.8% in the 4th quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 7,470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $638,000 after acquiring an additional 3,976 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in PayPal in the 3rd quarter worth about $387,435,000. Equity Investment Corp grew its stake in PayPal by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,998,298 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $155,927,000 after acquiring an additional 67,497 shares in the last quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 33,302 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after purchasing an additional 7,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 120.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,555,240 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $125,461,000 after purchasing an additional 849,311 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PYPL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective 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. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of PayPal from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $107.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. BTIG Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Fourteen 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.03.

PayPal Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of PayPal stock opened at $68.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $79.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.88. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $56.97 and a 1 year high of $93.66. The stock has a market cap of $68.21 billion, a PE ratio of 17.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. PayPal had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 23.67%. The firm had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at PayPal

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

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.