PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading 3.1% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) shares shot up 3.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $75.00 to $80.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. PayPal traded as high as $86.95 and last traded at $86.62. 2,537,429 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 6,823,171 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.99.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on PYPL. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of PayPal from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of PayPal from $74.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of PayPal from $72.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on PayPal from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.32.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in PayPal by 12,919.4% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 10,500,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $819,315,000 after acquiring an additional 10,419,351 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of PayPal by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,762,080 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,307,945,000 after purchasing an additional 7,767,072 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $387,435,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 28.1% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 8,511,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $493,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in PayPal by 9,864.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,119,262 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $87,336,000 after buying an additional 1,108,030 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PayPal Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.40. The stock has a market cap of $89.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.22, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.44.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.88 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.44% and a net margin of 14.08%. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.