Avory & Company LLC Makes New $253,000 Investment in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Avory & Company LLC acquired a new position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,114 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $253,000. PayPal accounts for about 0.2% of Avory & Company LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in PayPal by 420.6% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,238,980 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $190,371,000 after acquiring an additional 2,616,774 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in PayPal by 29.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,916,982 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $404,367,000 after acquiring an additional 1,575,930 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its position in shares of PayPal by 271.6% in the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,533,300 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $89,637,000 after purchasing an additional 1,120,700 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of PayPal by 4.5% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 20,069,337 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,173,254,000 after purchasing an additional 873,181 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of PayPal by 56.5% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,395,312 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $140,030,000 after purchasing an additional 864,684 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In other news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.64, for a total value of $466,079.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,795.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PYPL has been the topic of several research reports. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of PayPal from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $64.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Argus lowered shares of PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of PayPal from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of PayPal from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $74.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Twenty-four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.72.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of PYPL stock traded up $1.33 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $68.32. The company had a trading volume of 36,355,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,494,016. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $50.25 and a 52-week high of $76.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $63.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $71.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.45.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.14). PayPal had a return on equity of 20.84% and a net margin of 14.26%. The company had revenue of $7.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. PayPal’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current 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.