PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Up 1% – Should You Buy?

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s stock price rose 1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $68.48 and last traded at $68.17. Approximately 3,115,353 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 11,983,604 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.48.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Macquarie upped their target price 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. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on PayPal from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wolfe Research raised PayPal from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $107.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.03.

PayPal Trading Up 3.6 %

The company has a market cap of $69.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $82.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.99.

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

Insider Activity

In other PayPal news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total value of $176,478.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at $2,145,308.10. This represents a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PYPL. Audent Global Asset Management LLC lifted its position in PayPal by 164.6% during the fourth quarter. Audent Global Asset Management LLC now owns 37,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,238,000 after purchasing an additional 23,604 shares during the last quarter. GHE LLC raised its position in shares of PayPal by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 28,214 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,408,000 after buying an additional 1,258 shares in the last quarter. Fluent Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 178.1% during the 4th quarter. Fluent Financial LLC now owns 18,885 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,612,000 after acquiring an additional 12,095 shares during the last quarter. Cim LLC grew its position in PayPal by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Cim LLC now owns 98,809 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,433,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. bought a new position in PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at $1,001,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.