PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on PYPL. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of PayPal from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of PayPal from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on PayPal from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stephens increased their target price on PayPal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PayPal has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.74.

PayPal Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of PayPal stock opened at $91.02 on Friday. PayPal has a 1 year low of $55.77 and a 1 year high of $93.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $83.87 and a 200 day moving average of $72.38. The firm has a market cap of $91.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.72, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.44.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.13. The firm 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 business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PayPal will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC increased its holdings in PayPal by 86.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,762,080 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,307,945,000 after purchasing an additional 7,767,072 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 10,419,351 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in PayPal by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,636,644 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $501,184,000 after purchasing an additional 276,287 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $493,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,925 shares during the period. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in PayPal by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 6,015,816 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $469,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069,356 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.