PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Down 0.8% on Analyst Downgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) traded down 0.8% on Thursday after Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on the stock from $100.00 to $95.00. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock. PayPal traded as low as $78.21 and last traded at $78.58. 5,152,847 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 10,932,644 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.20.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PYPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on PayPal from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America raised PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $86.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on PayPal from $94.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Mizuho raised their price objective on PayPal from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on PayPal from $88.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, PayPal presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.29.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in PayPal by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 208,260 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $16,251,000 after acquiring an additional 8,925 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in PayPal by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,231 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $798,000 after acquiring an additional 1,211 shares during the last quarter. City Holding Co. raised its holdings in PayPal by 2,480.0% in the 3rd quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 12,255 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $956,000 after acquiring an additional 11,780 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in PayPal by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 123,565 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,642,000 after acquiring an additional 11,321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC purchased a new position in PayPal in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $284,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $78.77 billion, a PE ratio of 18.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s fifty day moving average is $87.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. PayPal had a net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 23.44%. The business had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share 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.