PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Down 0.1% – Here’s What Happened

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) traded down 0.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $85.05 and last traded at $85.35. 4,526,183 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 12,839,767 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.43.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on PYPL. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on PayPal from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer began coverage on PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on PayPal from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Fifteen investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.42.

PayPal Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $85.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.53. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $86.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.44.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at $387,435,000. United Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in PayPal in the third quarter valued at approximately $810,000. FCG Investment Co purchased a new position in PayPal in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,079,000. Equity Investment Corp raised its holdings in PayPal by 3.5% during the third quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,998,298 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $155,927,000 after purchasing an additional 67,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weil Company Inc. raised its holdings in PayPal by 68.9% during the third quarter. Weil Company Inc. now owns 41,689 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,253,000 after purchasing an additional 17,003 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

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.