Boston Partners Sells 80,403 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Boston Partners reduced its position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 10.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 702,845 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 80,403 shares during the period. Boston Partners’ holdings in PayPal were worth $47,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter worth about $749,561,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 125.1% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,724,188 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $105,882,000 after acquiring an additional 958,130 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 15.8% in the first 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. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 1,309.2% in the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 800,648 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $49,168,000 after acquiring an additional 743,833 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 31.1% in the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 2,899,859 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $194,262,000 after acquiring an additional 687,940 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PYPL shares. New Street Research started coverage on shares of PayPal in a research report on Friday, May 31st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Argus upgraded shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of PayPal from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of PayPal from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of PayPal from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, PayPal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.94.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Deborah M. Messemer sold 4,422 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Stock Performance

PYPL traded down $3.33 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $61.98. 23,117,055 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,879,998. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.25 and a 52 week high of $70.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.36 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.42. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $61.01 and its 200 day moving average is $62.24.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.20. PayPal had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 22.82%. The firm had revenue of $7.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current year.

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.