Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Has $666.10 Million Stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 284.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,804,334 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,772,198 shares during the period. PayPal comprises approximately 1.0% of Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in PayPal were worth $666,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. FMR LLC increased its position in PayPal by 86.3% during 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 period. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of PayPal during the third quarter worth about $387,435,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 174.1% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,233,341 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $361,316,000 after purchasing an additional 2,689,162 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at $135,537,000. Finally, Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in PayPal during the fourth quarter worth about $81,342,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PYPL. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on PayPal from $85.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on PayPal from $94.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on PayPal from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of PayPal from $92.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.03.

PayPal Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL opened at $69.97 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $69.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.85. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $56.97 and a 1 year high of $93.66.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other PayPal news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total value of $176,478.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 29,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,145,308.10. The trade was a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.14% of the stock is 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.