PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Up 0.7% on Analyst Upgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) shares shot up 0.7% during trading on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $75.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. PayPal traded as high as $80.43 and last traded at $80.36. 1,872,385 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 13,639,943 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.82.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered PayPal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays lifted their price objective on PayPal from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Daiwa America raised PayPal from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on PayPal from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.52.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Brown Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of PayPal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,454,000. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of PayPal in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,014,000. Distillate Capital Partners LLC raised its position in PayPal by 156,934.7% in the 2nd quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 343,906 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $19,957,000 after purchasing an additional 343,687 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its stake in PayPal by 604.7% during the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 53,076 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,452,000 after purchasing an additional 45,544 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in PayPal by 44.6% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,235 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PayPal Stock Up 0.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.50. The company has a market capitalization of $82.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.46, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.44.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.20. PayPal had a return on equity of 22.82% and a net margin of 14.30%. The firm had revenue of $7.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. PayPal’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current year.

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.