PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading Up 1.2% – Here’s What Happened

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s share price shot up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $90.04 and last traded at $89.79. 1,544,493 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 13,087,957 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.76.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PYPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of PayPal from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Phillip Securities reissued an “accumulate” rating and issued a $90.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of PayPal in a report on Friday, November 1st. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.70.

PayPal Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $90.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.58.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.85 billion during 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 86.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,762,080 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,307,945,000 after acquiring an additional 7,767,072 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $819,315,000 after acquiring an additional 10,419,351 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 3.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,636,644 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $501,184,000 after acquiring an additional 276,287 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 28.1% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 8,511,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $493,907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 21.6% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 6,015,816 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $469,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069,356 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.