PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on the stock from $80.00 to $88.00. The stock had previously closed at $66.99, but opened at $70.00. Monness Crespi & Hardt currently has a buy rating on the stock. PayPal shares last traded at $69.64, with a volume of 17,976,552 shares traded.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Stephens reiterated 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 raised their price objective on PayPal from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on PayPal from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. DZ Bank cut PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Twenty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.72.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of PayPal 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 $1,420,795.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. Norges Bank bought a new position in PayPal during the fourth quarter valued at about $749,561,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,616,774 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,575,930 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in PayPal by 271.6% during the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,533,300 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $89,637,000 after purchasing an additional 1,120,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in PayPal by 125.1% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,724,188 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $105,882,000 after buying an additional 958,130 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PayPal Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $72.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.27. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.14). PayPal had a return on equity of 20.84% and a net margin of 14.26%. The company had revenue of $7.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal 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.