PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Down 1.7%

Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) fell 1.7% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $76.02 and last traded at $76.26. 4,070,131 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 14,000,578 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.57.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PYPL shares. William Blair upgraded PayPal to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on PayPal from $70.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Mizuho reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Daiwa America raised PayPal from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on PayPal from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued 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 a consensus target price of $75.58.

PayPal Stock Down 1.7 %

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 $77.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.26.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 9,659 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $593,000 after buying an additional 2,569 shares during the last quarter. Balentine LLC bought a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at $266,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 198.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 429,954 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,403,000 after purchasing an additional 285,847 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 109.8% during the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,417 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares during the period. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in PayPal during the fourth quarter worth about $294,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.