Diversified Investment Strategies LLC Increases Stock Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Diversified Investment Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 56,220 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 175 shares during the quarter. PayPal accounts for 3.1% of Diversified Investment Strategies LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Diversified Investment Strategies LLC’s holdings in PayPal were worth $4,798,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in PayPal by 12,919.4% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 10,500,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $819,315,000 after purchasing an additional 10,419,351 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in PayPal by 86.3% during the third 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 in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PayPal during the third quarter worth $387,435,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 174.1% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,233,341 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $361,316,000 after acquiring an additional 2,689,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 28.1% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 8,511,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $493,907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866,925 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PYPL. Sanford C. Bernstein cut PayPal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on PayPal from $88.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research upgraded PayPal from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $107.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.48.

PayPal Stock Performance

PYPL opened at $88.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $88.61 billion, a PE ratio of 21.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.44. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.46. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.77 and a fifty-two week high of $93.66.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.85 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal 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.