Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd Purchases Shares of 953,036 PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd acquired a new stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 953,036 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $81,342,000. PayPal makes up approximately 5.0% of Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PYPL. United Bank lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 8,941 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 794 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 84.0% in the 3rd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 6,620 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $517,000 after purchasing an additional 3,023 shares in the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in PayPal during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $522,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its position in PayPal by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 100,855 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,870,000 after acquiring an additional 767 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in PayPal by 436.2% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,630 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of PYPL opened at $70.00 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $69.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.46, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $78.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $56.97 and a 12 month high of $93.66.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.48 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total transaction of $176,478.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,145,308.10. The trade was a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PYPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America raised PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $86.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Macquarie boosted their price target on PayPal from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. DZ Bank raised PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Fourteen equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.03.

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.