PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading Up 3.2% on Analyst Upgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) shares shot up 3.2% on Friday 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 $91.80 and last traded at $91.74. 5,090,735 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 31% from the average session volume of 7,412,152 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.92.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Macquarie boosted their price objective on PayPal from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on PayPal from $94.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on PayPal from $92.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded PayPal from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $107.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.32.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd bought a new stake in PayPal in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in PayPal by 67.6% in 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 during the period. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 50.6% in the 2nd quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 497 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position in PayPal by 186.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 412 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Stock Up 3.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.05 billion, a PE ratio of 21.89, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.44.

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

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.