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

Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) shot up 0.8% 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 traded hands 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 research firms have also issued reports on PYPL. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of PayPal from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research raised PayPal from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $107.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $86.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Fourteen equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.48.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in PayPal by 12,919.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 10,500,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $819,315,000 after acquiring an additional 10,419,351 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 7,767,072 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the third quarter worth about $387,435,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in PayPal by 174.1% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,233,341 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $361,316,000 after buying an additional 2,689,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 28.1% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 8,511,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $493,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,925 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PayPal Stock Performance

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 company has a market capitalization of $89.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.38, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $87.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.05.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current 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.