Van ECK Associates Corp Trims Stock Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 70,649 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 6,659 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in PayPal were worth $4,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 77.5% during the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 394 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 1.9% during the first quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,708 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $650,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 18.6% during the first quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 1,175 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 3.1% during the second quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,166 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. increased its holdings in PayPal by 65.8% in the first quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 466 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Stock Performance

PayPal stock opened at $72.61 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.39. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $50.25 and a 1-year high of $73.93. 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 cap of $74.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.43.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $7.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.82 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 22.82%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. On average, analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on PYPL shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Macquarie lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus raised shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Eighteen investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.56.

PayPal 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.