PayPal Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:PYPL)

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 113,851 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 33% compared to the typical volume of 85,827 call options.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $397,000. Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in PayPal by 76.1% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,544 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $388,000 after buying an additional 1,964 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC raised its stake in PayPal by 123.2% in the fourth quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 11,851 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,011,000 after buying an additional 6,542 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in PayPal by 154.6% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 14,512 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,239,000 after buying an additional 8,813 shares during the period. Finally, Amiral Gestion bought a new stake in PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at $17,047,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PayPal Price Performance

PayPal stock opened at $74.07 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $73.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $84.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.02. PayPal has a 1 year low of $56.97 and a 1 year high of $93.66.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 business earned $1.48 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that PayPal will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on PYPL. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of PayPal from $88.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. BTIG Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on PayPal from $94.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.52.

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.