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

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) shares shot up 3.2% during mid-day trading 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 equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of PayPal from $72.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on PayPal from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on PayPal from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.32.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in PayPal by 56.5% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 43,608 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,531,000 after acquiring an additional 15,736 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 29.4% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 23,112 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,341,000 after purchasing an additional 5,251 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in PayPal by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,523 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,597,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in PayPal by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 128,170 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,438,000 after buying an additional 3,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in PayPal by 35.4% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 147,259 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,545,000 after buying an additional 38,488 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Price Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.72. The company has a market capitalization of $92.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.91, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. PayPal’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Company Profile

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.