PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on PYPL. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on PayPal from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $72.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of PayPal from $92.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of PayPal from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PayPal currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.74.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of PYPL opened at $91.02 on Friday. PayPal has a 12 month low of $55.77 and a 12 month high of $93.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $83.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.30. The company has a market cap of $91.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.72, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.44.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.88 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 23.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that PayPal will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PYPL. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PayPal in the 3rd quarter worth about $387,435,000. United Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the third quarter worth approximately $810,000. FCG Investment Co acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the third quarter worth approximately $1,079,000. Equity Investment Corp grew its position in PayPal by 3.5% during the third quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,998,298 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $155,927,000 after purchasing an additional 67,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weil Company Inc. increased its stake in PayPal by 68.9% in the 3rd quarter. Weil Company Inc. now owns 41,689 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,253,000 after buying an additional 17,003 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.