PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading 0.2% Higher

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) shares shot up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $65.09 and last traded at $64.57. 2,314,079 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 16,228,467 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.43.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PYPL. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, January 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on PayPal from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on PayPal from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Argus downgraded PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.47.

PayPal Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $67.47 billion, a PE ratio of 16.69, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.12. PayPal had a return on equity of 20.84% and a net margin of 14.26%. The company had revenue of $8.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In other news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was 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 directly owns 23,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,795.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $749,561,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of PayPal by 420.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,238,980 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $190,371,000 after acquiring an additional 2,616,774 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of PayPal by 29.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,916,982 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $404,367,000 after acquiring an additional 1,575,930 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its position in shares of PayPal by 271.6% in the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,533,300 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $89,637,000 after acquiring an additional 1,120,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of PayPal by 125.1% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,724,188 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $105,882,000 after acquiring an additional 958,130 shares in 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.