PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading 1.7% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s stock price rose 1.7% on Thursday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $76.00 to $90.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. PayPal traded as high as $88.42 and last traded at $86.88. Approximately 2,580,144 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 12,966,967 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.45.

PYPL has been the subject of several other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $80.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Macquarie upped their target price on shares of PayPal from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Phillip Securities reaffirmed an “accumulate” rating and set a $90.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of PayPal in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on PayPal from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Fifteen 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.42.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. &PARTNERS raised its position in PayPal by 68.1% during the 2nd quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 30,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,780,000 after buying an additional 12,426 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 10.4% during the second quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,707 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in PayPal by 29.4% during the second quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,596 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,724 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in PayPal by 23.5% in the second quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,877 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in PayPal during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $87.00 billion, a PE ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $7.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.88 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.44% and a net margin of 14.08%. PayPal’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect 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.