PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading Up 1.8% – Still a Buy?

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s share price was up 1.8% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $78.33 and last traded at $77.97. Approximately 10,494,275 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 12% from the average daily volume of 11,926,884 shares. The stock had previously closed at $76.59.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on PYPL shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Wolfe Research raised shares of PayPal from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $107.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Macquarie increased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of PayPal from $94.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Thirteen 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, PayPal currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.52.

PayPal Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $77.13 billion, a PE ratio of 19.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $86.42 and its 200-day moving average is $80.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $8.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 23.67%. PayPal’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.48 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in PayPal by 67.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd acquired a new position in PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position in PayPal by 186.1% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 412 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently 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.