PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Downgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other research firms also recently commented on PYPL. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of PayPal from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Macquarie raised their target price on shares of PayPal from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of PayPal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $71.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on PayPal from $70.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Argus raised PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.58.

PayPal Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of PYPL stock opened at $73.12 on Thursday. PayPal has a 12-month low of $50.25 and a 12-month high of $74.40. The company has a market capitalization of $76.49 billion, a PE ratio of 18.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $66.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.20. PayPal had a return on equity of 22.82% and a net margin of 14.30%. The business had revenue of $7.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that PayPal will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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