Ceera Investments LLC Increases Stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Ceera Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 79,936 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,207 shares during the quarter. PayPal makes up about 2.0% of Ceera Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Ceera Investments LLC’s holdings in PayPal were worth $4,639,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in PayPal by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 10,716 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $658,000 after buying an additional 1,073 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of PayPal by 36.2% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 9,659 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $593,000 after buying an additional 2,569 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its holdings in PayPal by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 15,551 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $955,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in PayPal during the 4th quarter worth $418,000. Finally, Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at about $299,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on PYPL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $84.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of PayPal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $72.00 in a report on Friday, August 9th. Susquehanna raised their target price on PayPal from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group boosted their price target on PayPal from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on PayPal from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Eighteen equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.56.

PayPal Trading Down 4.4 %

Shares of PYPL stock traded down $3.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $68.89. The company had a trading volume of 12,304,156 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,207,560. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.25 and a fifty-two week high of $74.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company’s fifty day moving average is $64.50 and its 200 day moving average is $63.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.43.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly 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. PayPal had a return on equity of 22.82% and a net margin of 14.30%. The company had revenue of $7.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.42 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.