PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading 1.7% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) rose 1.7% on Thursday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $76.00 to $90.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. PayPal traded as high as $88.42 and last traded at $86.88. Approximately 2,580,144 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 12,966,967 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.45.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Stephens boosted their price objective on PayPal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of PayPal from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of PayPal from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on PayPal from $80.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.42.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd purchased a new position in PayPal during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 50.6% during the second quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 497 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its position in PayPal by 930.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 515 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the period. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in PayPal by 186.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 412 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Stock Up 1.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.00 billion, a PE ratio of 20.71, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $84.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.96.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.88 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 23.44%. PayPal’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.