Columbia Asset Management Sells 155 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Columbia Asset Management decreased its holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,850 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 155 shares during the period. Columbia Asset Management’s holdings in PayPal were worth $499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,086,508,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in PayPal by 284.0% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,804,334 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $666,100,000 after purchasing an additional 5,772,198 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PayPal in the third quarter worth approximately $387,435,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in PayPal by 174.1% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,233,341 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $361,316,000 after purchasing an additional 2,689,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at $135,537,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PYPL. Arete Research downgraded PayPal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of 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. Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of PayPal from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.40.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total transaction of $176,478.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,145,308.10. This represents a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $66.10 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $65.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.48, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $56.97 and a 12 month high of $93.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $75.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.83.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. The firm had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.48 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 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.