PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Up 0.1%

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s stock price was up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $58.76 and last traded at $58.45. Approximately 2,507,440 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 14,827,640 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.37.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PYPL shares. New Street Research started coverage on shares of PayPal in a report on Friday, May 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of PayPal from $63.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of PayPal from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $84.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research report on Friday. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PayPal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.64.

PayPal Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $63.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.43.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Deborah M. Messemer sold 4,422 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director now directly owns 13,976 shares in the company, valued at $861,620.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of PayPal by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 20,069,337 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,173,254,000 after acquiring an additional 873,181 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at about $749,561,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of PayPal by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,976,859 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $428,449,000 after acquiring an additional 265,116 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of PayPal by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,644,317 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $445,103,000 after acquiring an additional 904,804 shares during the period. Finally, Atreides Management LP grew its position in shares of PayPal by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Atreides Management LP now owns 4,174,520 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $244,042,000 after acquiring an additional 355,411 shares during the period. 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.