PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Upgraded to Hold at William Blair

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) was upgraded by investment analysts at William Blair to a “hold” rating in a report released on Tuesday, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on PYPL. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup increased their price target on PayPal from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday. Argus raised shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PayPal has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.03.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of PYPL stock opened at $65.78 on Tuesday. PayPal has a 52-week low of $50.25 and a 52-week high of $76.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $68.81 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.19.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $7.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.82 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 22.82% and a net margin of 14.30%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that PayPal will post 4.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Deborah M. Messemer sold 4,422 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.65, for a total value of $272,616.30. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $861,620.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 12,666 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $735,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 15.0% in the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 4,572 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the second quarter worth about $363,000. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 1.6% during the second quarter. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 157,039 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,119,000 after buying an additional 2,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in PayPal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $249,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.