PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading 1.5% Higher – Should You Buy?

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s share price was up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $86.94 and last traded at $86.60. Approximately 1,663,128 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 12,839,767 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.35.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on PYPL. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of PayPal from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of PayPal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $103.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.42.

PayPal Trading Up 1.6 %

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $85.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $87.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.44.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.13. PayPal had a net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 23.44%. The firm had revenue of $7.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 186.1% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 412 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 125.3% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 437 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

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.