PayPal’s (PYPL) “Hold” Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reiterated by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $78.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $84.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of PayPal from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of PayPal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.03.

PayPal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $79.30 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.50 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.44. PayPal has a fifty-two week low of $50.80 and a fifty-two week high of $83.70. The company has a fifty day moving average of $76.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.56.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.12. PayPal had a net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 23.44%. The firm had revenue of $7.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that PayPal will post 4.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in PayPal by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 234,147 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $15,686,000 after buying an additional 36,994 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 197.3% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 82,620 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,535,000 after acquiring an additional 54,832 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in PayPal by 23.3% in the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 23,463 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,572,000 after purchasing an additional 4,434 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in PayPal by 33.8% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 77,308 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,179,000 after purchasing an additional 19,510 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in PayPal by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 168,866 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,312,000 after purchasing an additional 21,047 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.