Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Has $919,000 Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 63.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,751 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,189 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in PayPal were worth $919,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PYPL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in 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 worth $666,100,000 after buying an additional 5,772,198 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in PayPal during the third quarter worth about $387,435,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in PayPal by 174.1% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,233,341 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $361,316,000 after acquiring an additional 2,689,162 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter worth about $135,537,000. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of PYPL stock opened at $58.37 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56, a PEG 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.97 and a 52 week high of $93.66. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.52.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on PayPal from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total value of $176,478.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,145,308.10. This 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. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

PayPal 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.