PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading Up 2.5% – Here’s Why

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s stock price traded up 2.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $71.84 and last traded at $71.61. 2,311,579 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 11,197,096 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PYPL shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. BTIG Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their price objective on shares of PayPal from $120.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of PayPal from $104.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Macquarie dropped their target price on shares of PayPal from $117.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.68.

PayPal Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $69.53 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $66.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.01.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $7.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.84 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total transaction of $176,478.90. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Norges Bank bought a new position in PayPal during the fourth quarter worth $1,086,508,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in PayPal by 108.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,924,106 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,529,823,000 after buying an additional 9,313,783 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in PayPal in the first quarter valued at $529,264,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its stake in 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 valued at $666,100,000 after buying an additional 5,772,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted 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 buying an additional 2,689,162 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.