PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Up 2.9% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) traded up 2.9% during trading on Wednesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $94.00 to $97.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. PayPal traded as high as $90.08 and last traded at $89.74. 2,656,718 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 7,092,667 shares. The stock had previously closed at $87.18.

PYPL has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of PayPal from $80.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of PayPal from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of PayPal from $74.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.16.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PYPL. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 50.6% in the 2nd quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 497 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in PayPal by 344.3% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 351 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in PayPal by 186.1% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 412 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PayPal Stock Up 2.8 %

The business’s 50 day moving average is $86.91 and its 200 day moving average is $76.31. The company has a market capitalization of $89.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.39, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.88 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 23.44%. PayPal’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current 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.