PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna raised shares of PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $71.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. JMP Securities upped their target price on PayPal from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on PayPal from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on PayPal from $80.00 to $88.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.26.

PayPal Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of PYPL traded up $0.65 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $58.94. The stock had a trading volume of 12,311,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,342,114. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.14. PayPal has a 12-month low of $50.25 and a 12-month high of $76.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $61.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.42.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.14). PayPal had a return on equity of 21.58% and a net margin of 14.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that PayPal will post 4.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Deborah M. Messemer sold 4,422 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.65, for a total transaction of $272,616.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,976 shares in the company, valued at $861,620.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $749,561,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 125.1% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,724,188 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $105,882,000 after buying an additional 958,130 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 15.8% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,644,317 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $445,103,000 after buying an additional 904,804 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its stake in PayPal by 4,024.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 783,248 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $48,099,000 after buying an additional 764,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in PayPal by 1,309.2% during the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 800,648 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $49,168,000 after acquiring an additional 743,833 shares during the period. 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.