Franklin Resources Inc. Has $119.89 Million Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,404,731 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 150,509 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of PayPal worth $119,894,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,086,508,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in PayPal by 284.0% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,804,334 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $666,100,000 after purchasing an additional 5,772,198 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at $387,435,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in PayPal by 174.1% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,233,341 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $361,316,000 after purchasing an additional 2,689,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter worth about $135,537,000. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PYPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on PayPal from $85.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Bank of America upgraded PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $86.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of PayPal from $104.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.40.

PayPal Trading Up 1.6 %

PYPL stock opened at $67.15 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $56.97 and a twelve month high of $93.66. The company has a market cap of $66.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.75, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. The business has a fifty day moving average of $74.82 and a 200-day moving average of $80.74.

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

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other PayPal news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,145,308.10. The trade was a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently 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.