PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-three research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nineteen have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $90.52.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PYPL. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America upgraded PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on PayPal from $90.00 to $79.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Phillip Securities reiterated an “accumulate” rating and set a $90.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of PayPal in a report on Friday, November 1st.

PayPal Price Performance

PYPL stock opened at $78.36 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $77.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.44. PayPal has a 52-week low of $56.97 and a 52-week high of $93.66. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $8.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. PayPal’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that PayPal will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PYPL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter worth $1,086,508,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in PayPal by 12,919.4% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 10,500,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $819,315,000 after acquiring an additional 10,419,351 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in PayPal by 108.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,924,106 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,529,823,000 after purchasing an additional 9,313,783 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in PayPal by 86.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,762,080 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,307,945,000 after purchasing an additional 7,767,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 284.0% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,804,334 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $666,100,000 after purchasing an additional 5,772,198 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

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.