PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Up 1.5% on Analyst Upgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s share price traded up 1.5% during trading on Monday after Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on the stock from $80.00 to $88.00. Monness Crespi & Hardt currently has a buy rating on the stock. PayPal traded as high as $67.24 and last traded at $66.98. 4,238,492 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 16,067,842 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.96.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on PYPL. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on PayPal from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on PayPal from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets cut PayPal from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other PayPal news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.64, for a total transaction of $466,079.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,430 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,795.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 1,032 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc increased its holdings in PayPal by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 4,705 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Brooks Moore & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in PayPal by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Brooks Moore & Associates Inc. now owns 14,391 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $841,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in PayPal by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,619 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO increased its holdings in PayPal by 18.6% during the 1st quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 1,175 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.27. The company has a market capitalization of $70.52 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $8.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.88 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 20.84% and a net margin of 14.26%. PayPal’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

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.