Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Purchases 2,827 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 42,725 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,827 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $3,647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC raised its position in shares of PayPal by 113.8% during the 4th quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 7,470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $638,000 after buying an additional 3,976 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PayPal during the third quarter valued at approximately $387,435,000. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 697,077 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $59,489,000 after purchasing an additional 18,172 shares during the last quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 33,302 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,842,000 after purchasing an additional 7,291 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of PayPal by 120.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,555,240 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $125,461,000 after purchasing an additional 849,311 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on PYPL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BTIG Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Macquarie raised their price target on PayPal from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.03.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of PYPL opened at $70.86 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $77.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.92. The company has a market cap of $70.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.67, 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. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $56.97 and a twelve month high of $93.66.

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

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other PayPal news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 29,734 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.