PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading Up 0.6% – Here’s What Happened

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) rose 0.6% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $87.40 and last traded at $86.88. Approximately 2,299,760 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 13,487,888 shares. The stock had previously closed at $86.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PYPL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of PayPal from $74.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on PayPal from $80.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on PayPal from $70.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered PayPal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.45.

PayPal Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.88 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.44% and a net margin of 14.08%. PayPal’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of PayPal by 86.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,762,080 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,307,945,000 after acquiring an additional 7,767,072 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 12,919.4% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 10,500,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $819,315,000 after purchasing an additional 10,419,351 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 3.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,636,644 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $501,184,000 after purchasing an additional 276,287 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in PayPal by 28.1% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 8,511,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $493,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,925 shares during the period. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA raised its position in PayPal by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 6,015,816 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $469,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069,356 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.