PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Up 0.1% – Should You Buy?

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s stock price shot up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $62.79 and last traded at $62.34. 2,286,803 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 11,440,955 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PYPL. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of PayPal from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on PayPal from $94.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Macquarie raised their price objective on PayPal from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of PayPal from $104.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.84.

PayPal Price Performance

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total value of $176,478.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at $2,145,308.10. This trade represents a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its stake in PayPal by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 344.3% in the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 351 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the period. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.