Argent Trust Co Buys 369 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Argent Trust Co grew its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 1.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in PayPal were worth $1,416,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in PayPal by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,644,317 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $445,103,000 after buying an additional 904,804 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in PayPal by 180.7% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,946,460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $287,043,000 after buying an additional 3,184,160 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in PayPal by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,668,505 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $225,283,000 after buying an additional 61,384 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in PayPal by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,166,795 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $183,789,000 after buying an additional 409,322 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in PayPal by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 3,046,502 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $176,789,000 after buying an additional 146,643 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on PYPL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of PayPal from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of PayPal from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of PayPal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $68.00 to $72.00 in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Daiwa America raised shares of PayPal from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.58.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $73.12 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $76.49 billion, a PE ratio of 18.42, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s fifty day moving average is $66.33 and its 200 day moving average is $64.17. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.25 and a 52 week high of $74.40. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $7.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.82 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 22.82%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current year.

PayPal Profile

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.