PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading 4.7% Higher

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) shot up 4.7% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $76.79 and last traded at $76.54. 6,562,781 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 13,964,857 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on PYPL shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of PayPal from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus raised PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on PayPal from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PayPal currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.58.

PayPal Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $78.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.38. 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 data on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $7.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.82 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 22.82% and a net margin of 14.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PYPL. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in PayPal by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,636,644 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $501,184,000 after purchasing an additional 276,287 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in PayPal by 28.1% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 8,511,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $493,907,000 after buying an additional 1,866,925 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew 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 in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position 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 valued at $225,283,000 after acquiring an additional 61,384 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in PayPal by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,166,795 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $183,789,000 after acquiring an additional 409,322 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Company 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.