PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Upgraded at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on PYPL. Stephens decreased their target price on PayPal from $65.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on PayPal from $67.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-three have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.39.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of PYPL stock opened at $49.75 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business has a 50 day moving average of $45.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.44. PayPal has a 52 week low of $38.46 and a 52 week high of $79.50. The company has a market cap of $44.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.20, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.40.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.06). PayPal had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 25.42%. The company had revenue of $8.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that PayPal will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. PayPal’s payout ratio is presently 10.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Chris Natali sold 2,208 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.73, for a total transaction of $98,763.84. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 1,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,992.20. The trade was a 65.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total value of $1,361,317.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 51,567 shares in the company, valued at $2,373,113.34. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 87,608 shares of company stock valued at $3,831,535 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 1.8% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,855,897 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $191,516,000 after buying an additional 51,268 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 15.5% in the third quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 164,901 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,058,000 after buying an additional 22,139 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 7.9% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,292,583 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $291,338,000 after buying an additional 313,180 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of PayPal in the third quarter valued at $13,210,000. Finally, Ariose Capital Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 347.0% in the third quarter. Ariose Capital Management Ltd now owns 193,100 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $12,949,000 after buying an additional 149,898 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal locked in a high-visibility partnership as the official P2P payments partner of the NFL — a marketing and user-acquisition catalyst that spurred a recent price pop. PYPL Stock Pops Past $50 as PayPal Locks Down NFL Partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target to $55 after the NFL deal, reflecting a constructive view that the partnership and brand momentum could support growth and multiple expansion. PayPal (PYPL) Stock: Bank of America Raises Target to $55 After NFL Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Several bullish write-ups argue PYPL looks inexpensive on trailing and forward P/E metrics and present a turnaround thesis tied to product execution and cost control. These narratives support longer-term upside if execution improves. Is PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) A Good Stock To Buy Now?
• Neutral Sentiment: BMO Capital initiated coverage with a Market Perform / “hold” view, which signals no immediate upside conviction from that shop and may cap near-term enthusiasm. BMO Capital initiates coverage of PayPal Holdings (PYPL) with market perform recommendation
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and media coverage is high — Zacks and other outlets flag PYPL as a trending/closely watched stock, meaning headlines and flows (not fundamentals) may drive short-term moves. PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) Is a Trending Stock: Facts to Know Before Betting on It
• Negative Sentiment: PayPal’s most recent quarterly report showed a modest EPS and revenue miss and only low single-digit revenue growth, which keeps near-term fundamentals under scrutiny and can pressure the stock despite the partnership news. Is It Time To Reconsider PayPal (PYPL) After Recent Share Price Weakness?

PayPal Company Profile

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a global digital payments platform that enables consumers and merchants to send and receive payments online, on mobile devices and at the point of sale. The company provides a broad set of payment solutions, including a digital wallet, merchant payment processing, checkout services, invoicing and fraud-management tools. PayPal’s platform is designed to support e-commerce, in-person retail and person-to-person transfers, targeting both individual consumers and businesses of varying sizes.

Key products and services in PayPal’s portfolio include the PayPal wallet and checkout ecosystem, the Venmo peer-to-peer mobile app, Braintree’s developer-focused payment gateway, Xoom for international money transfers, and PayPal Credit and buy-now-pay-later options.