PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading 0.6% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s share price was up 0.6% on Thursday 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 $90.37 and last traded at $90.16. Approximately 1,413,177 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 7,271,020 shares. The stock had previously closed at $89.64.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of PayPal from $92.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of PayPal from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Wolfe Research raised shares of PayPal from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $107.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.32.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $387,435,000. United Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of PayPal in the third quarter valued at $810,000. FCG Investment Co bought a new position in shares of PayPal in the third quarter valued at $1,079,000. Equity Investment Corp lifted its holdings in PayPal by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,998,298 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $155,927,000 after purchasing an additional 67,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weil Company Inc. lifted its holdings in PayPal by 68.9% during the 3rd quarter. Weil Company Inc. now owns 41,689 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,253,000 after purchasing an additional 17,003 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PayPal Stock Down 0.8 %

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.40. The firm has a market cap of $89.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.13. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.44% and a net margin of 14.08%. The company had revenue of $7.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current 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.