PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on PYPL. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of PayPal from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Macquarie upped their target price on shares of PayPal from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of PayPal from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.03.

PayPal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $65.15 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.25, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. PayPal has a fifty-two week low of $56.97 and a fifty-two week high of $93.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $76.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.82.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that PayPal will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total transaction of $176,478.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,145,308.10. This trade represents a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd acquired a new position in PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in PayPal by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 344.3% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 351 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

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.