PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Up 0.8% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) traded up 0.8% during trading on Monday after Piper Sandler raised their price target on the stock from $88.00 to $93.00. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the stock. PayPal traded as high as $89.99 and last traded at $89.79. 1,755,599 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 8,055,302 shares. The stock had previously closed at $89.11.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on PYPL. Mizuho boosted their target price on PayPal from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on PayPal from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of PayPal from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on PayPal from $80.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.48.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its position in shares of PayPal by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 66,474 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,674,000 after acquiring an additional 9,039 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,192 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 140,314 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,976,000 after acquiring an additional 6,443 shares during the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 15,536 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,326,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 10,484 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $895,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $87.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.27.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $7.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. PayPal’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal 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.