StockNews.com Downgrades PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) to Hold

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

PYPL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of PayPal from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Twenty-five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PayPal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.73.

PayPal Stock Up 1.3 %

PYPL opened at $66.98 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company’s 50-day moving average is $63.56 and its 200 day moving average is $60.44. PayPal has a fifty-two week low of $50.25 and a fifty-two week high of $76.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.87, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.41.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.14). PayPal had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 21.58%. The firm had revenue of $7.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that PayPal will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PayPal news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.64, for a total value of $466,079.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,795.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Sutton Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in PayPal by 115.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sutton Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 443 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its holdings in PayPal by 77.5% during the 1st quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 394 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank bought a new stake in PayPal during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.