PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Upgraded at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $78.00 price target on the credit services provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $71.00.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on PYPL. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of PayPal from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. William Blair cut PayPal from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com lowered PayPal from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on PayPal from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Susquehanna upgraded shares of PayPal from a neutral rating to a positive rating and set a $71.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $74.94.

PayPal Stock Down 5.1 %

NASDAQ PYPL opened at $61.98 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $63.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.42. PayPal has a 1-year low of $50.25 and a 1-year high of $70.66. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $61.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.22.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $7.89 billion during 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 business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that PayPal will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In related news, Director Deborah M. Messemer sold 4,422 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.65, for a total value of $272,616.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $861,620.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

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

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.