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

StockNews.com downgraded shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of PayPal from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and cut their target price for the company from $64.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of PayPal from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of PayPal from $76.00 to $73.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on shares of PayPal from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $72.73.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of PYPL stock opened at $61.58 on Tuesday. PayPal has a 12 month low of $50.25 and a 12 month high of $76.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.41. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $64.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.53.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $7.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.52 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 21.58% and a net margin of 14.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that PayPal will post 4.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In related news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.64, for a total transaction of $466,079.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,795.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Sutton Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 115.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sutton Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 443 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 77.5% in the 1st quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 394 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.