PayPal Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:PYPL)

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders bought 118,758 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 62% compared to the average volume of 73,113 call options.

PayPal Trading Up 3.3 %

NASDAQ PYPL opened at $91.81 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $87.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $92.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.44. PayPal has a 12 month low of $55.77 and a 12 month high of $93.66.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PayPal will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 3rd quarter worth $387,435,000. United Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal during the third quarter valued at $810,000. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 113.8% during the fourth quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 7,470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $638,000 after buying an additional 3,976 shares during the last quarter. FCG Investment Co bought a new stake in PayPal in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,079,000. Finally, Equity Investment Corp raised its position in PayPal by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,998,298 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $155,927,000 after buying an additional 67,497 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on PYPL. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on PayPal from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Macquarie lifted their target price on shares of PayPal from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho boosted their price target on PayPal from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on PayPal from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, PayPal currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.32.

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.