Freedom Investment Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,188 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 410 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,849,884,000 after acquiring an additional 271,836 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,161,582 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter worth about $1,086,508,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,283,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $707,032,000 after buying an additional 144,402 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted 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 buying an additional 5,772,198 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of PYPL stock opened at $60.28 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.06. 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 market capitalization of $59.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.60. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.85 and a 12-month high of $93.66.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted 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. PayPal had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 23.67%. The business had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.27 billion. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.48 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now owns 29,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,145,308.10. The trade was a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on PYPL shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on PayPal from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $85.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.84.

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.