Patton Fund Management Inc. Makes New $5.66 Million Investment in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Patton Fund Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 66,318 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,660,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PYPL. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of PayPal in the second quarter worth $435,000. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of PayPal by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 307,093 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,821,000 after acquiring an additional 10,034 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in PayPal by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 20,334 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,180,000 after acquiring an additional 2,503 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in PayPal by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075 shares during the period. Finally, Greenvale Capital LLP grew its stake in PayPal by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. Greenvale Capital LLP now owns 2,675,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $155,230,000 after purchasing an additional 525,000 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PYPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on PayPal from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of PayPal from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $86.00 to $103.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Fourteen investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.48.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of PayPal stock opened at $88.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.05, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.46. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.77 and a 12 month high of $93.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.13. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.44% and a net margin of 14.08%. The firm had revenue of $7.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.