Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC Increases Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,220 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC’s holdings in PayPal were worth $958,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 86.3% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 12,919.4% in the third 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,615,476 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $564,631,000 after acquiring an additional 84,337 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its holdings in PayPal by 21.6% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 6,015,816 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $469,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal in the third quarter valued at about $387,435,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In related news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,145,308.10. This represents a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of PayPal stock opened at $66.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.69, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $80.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.90. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $56.97 and a twelve month high of $93.66.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. The business had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.48 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PYPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Macquarie upped their price objective on PayPal from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of PayPal from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.03.

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.