Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms Outperform Rating for PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL)

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $84.00 price objective on the credit services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 27.41% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on PYPL. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of PayPal from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Macquarie increased their price objective on PayPal from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their target price on PayPal from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Mizuho raised PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.72.

PayPal Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL traded up $1.93 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $65.93. The company had a trading volume of 10,757,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,522,681. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. PayPal has a one year low of $50.25 and a one year high of $76.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $60.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.16. The company has a market capitalization of $68.97 billion, a PE ratio of 16.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.42.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.20. PayPal had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 21.58%. The firm had revenue of $7.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that PayPal will post 4.16 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PayPal news, Director Deborah M. Messemer sold 4,422 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.65, for a total transaction of $272,616.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,976 shares in the company, valued at $861,620.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PYPL. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. grew its position in shares of PayPal by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 19,150 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 2,350 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its stake in PayPal by 1,194.4% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 2,330 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 2,150 shares during the last quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co purchased a new stake in PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at $202,000. Trust Point Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter worth $349,000. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 89.1% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 10,904 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $670,000 after acquiring an additional 5,138 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.