PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading Up 1.9% After Analyst Upgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s stock price was up 1.9% on Thursday after William Blair upgraded the stock to a hold rating. The stock traded as high as $67.30 and last traded at $67.00. Approximately 4,771,817 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 14,558,854 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.78.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of PayPal from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of PayPal from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Macquarie upped their target price on shares of PayPal from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised PayPal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $71.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PayPal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.03.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In other news, Director Deborah M. Messemer sold 4,422 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.65, for a total transaction of $272,616.30. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,976 shares in the company, valued at $861,620.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its holdings in PayPal by 77.5% during the 1st quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 394 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. American National Bank acquired a new position in PayPal in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PayPal in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. raised its stake in PayPal by 65.8% during the first quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 466 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $69.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.88, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $7.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.82 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 22.82% and a net margin of 14.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.17 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.