Morgan Stanley Raises PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Price Target to $90.00

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) had its price target upped by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 3.71% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on PYPL. Wolfe Research raised shares of PayPal from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $107.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on PayPal from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on PayPal from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on PayPal from $92.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.42.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of PYPL opened at $86.78 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $84.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.96. The stock has a market cap of $87.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.44. PayPal has a 12-month low of $55.77 and a 12-month high of $93.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

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

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in PayPal by 12,919.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 10,500,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $819,315,000 after buying an additional 10,419,351 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 86.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,762,080 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,307,945,000 after acquiring an additional 7,767,072 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the third quarter worth about $387,435,000. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 180.7% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,946,460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $287,043,000 after acquiring an additional 3,184,160 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in PayPal by 28.1% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 8,511,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $493,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,925 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is currently 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.