Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL)

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $78.00 target price on the credit services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 7.10% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. New Street Research began coverage on PayPal in a research report on Friday, May 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of PayPal from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of PayPal from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of PayPal from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Macquarie upped their price target on shares of PayPal from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PayPal presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.56.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL traded up $1.06 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $72.83. 6,703,521 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,975,435. The company has a market cap of $76.18 billion, a PE ratio of 18.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $66.04 and a 200 day moving average of $64.10. PayPal has a 52-week low of $50.25 and a 52-week high of $74.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $7.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.82 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 22.82% and a net margin of 14.30%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PayPal will post 4.42 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PYPL. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in PayPal by 3.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,636,644 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $501,184,000 after buying an additional 276,287 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $493,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,925 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 180.7% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,946,460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $287,043,000 after purchasing an additional 3,184,160 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,668,505 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $225,283,000 after purchasing an additional 61,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 14.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,166,795 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $183,789,000 after purchasing an additional 409,322 shares in the last quarter. 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.