PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading Up 3.1% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) rose 3.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $75.00 to $80.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. PayPal traded as high as $86.95 and last traded at $86.62. Approximately 2,537,429 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 6,823,171 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.99.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of PayPal from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of PayPal from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $107.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Macquarie raised their target price on PayPal from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PayPal currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.32.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd acquired a new position in PayPal during the third quarter worth $26,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in shares of PayPal by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in PayPal by 50.6% during the 2nd quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 497 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in PayPal by 344.3% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 351 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its position in PayPal by 186.1% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 412 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PayPal Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.22, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.44.

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

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.