PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-six analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $88.32.

PYPL has been the topic of several research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their price target on shares of PayPal from $120.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of PayPal from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 6th. DZ Bank upgraded PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 5th.

PayPal Stock Performance

PayPal stock opened at $60.56 on Friday. PayPal has a fifty-two week low of $55.85 and a fifty-two week high of $93.66. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $70.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.87. The stock has a market cap of $59.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm 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 company’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.48 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that PayPal will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In related news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total transaction of $176,478.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares of the company’s stock, 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 this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,086,508,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 108.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,924,106 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,529,823,000 after purchasing an additional 9,313,783 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 284.0% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,804,334 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $666,100,000 after buying an additional 5,772,198 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in PayPal by 174.1% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 2,689,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in PayPal by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,923,662 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,615,134,000 after buying an additional 2,161,582 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

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.