PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading Down 4.2% – Here’s Why

Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) fell 4.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $57.32 and last traded at $59.14. 7,097,888 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 37% from the average session volume of 11,245,340 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.71.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PYPL. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America upgraded PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $86.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Arete Research set a $81.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Fifteen 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.13.

PayPal Stock Down 5.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.58. The firm has a market cap of $57.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.60.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total value 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in PayPal by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,736,394 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,849,884,000 after purchasing an additional 271,836 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,923,662 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,615,134,000 after acquiring an additional 2,161,582 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of PayPal by 108.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,924,106 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,529,823,000 after acquiring an additional 9,313,783 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in PayPal during the fourth quarter worth $1,086,508,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in PayPal by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,462,251 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $892,953,000 after purchasing an additional 1,669,908 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

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.