PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading Up 0.6% – Still a Buy?

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) shares shot up 0.6% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $78.67 and last traded at $78.44. 3,479,354 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 11,245,945 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.97.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on PayPal from $88.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Phillip Securities reiterated an “accumulate” rating and issued a $90.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of PayPal in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of PayPal from $94.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group boosted their target price on PayPal from $72.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of PayPal from $92.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.52.

PayPal Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.36, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.44. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $85.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.55.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $8.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at $1,086,508,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in PayPal by 12,919.4% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 10,500,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $819,315,000 after acquiring an additional 10,419,351 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of PayPal by 108.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,924,106 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,529,823,000 after purchasing an additional 9,313,783 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,762,080 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,307,945,000 after purchasing an additional 7,767,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in PayPal by 284.0% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,804,334 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $666,100,000 after purchasing an additional 5,772,198 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.