PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Upgraded to “Buy” by StockNews.com

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other analysts have also commented on PYPL. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on PayPal from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Daiwa Capital Markets raised PayPal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on PayPal from $74.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on PayPal from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PayPal has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.84.

PayPal Price Performance

PayPal stock traded up $1.12 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $80.94. The stock had a trading volume of 8,839,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,674,411. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.44. PayPal has a 1-year low of $50.25 and a 1-year high of $82.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $74.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.61.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.20. The company 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%. PayPal’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that PayPal will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its stake in PayPal by 77.5% during the 1st quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 394 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank acquired a new stake in PayPal during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in PayPal during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC grew its stake in PayPal by 50.6% during the 2nd quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 497 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Company Profile

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.