KBC Group NV Buys 120,734 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 22.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 656,643 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 120,734 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in PayPal were worth $51,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PYPL. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 3.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,636,644 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $501,184,000 after acquiring an additional 276,287 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in PayPal by 28.1% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 8,511,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $493,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,925 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its stake in PayPal by 180.7% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,946,460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $287,043,000 after purchasing an additional 3,184,160 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 12.9% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,189,947 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $248,912,000 after buying an additional 364,851 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 14.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,166,795 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $183,789,000 after buying an additional 409,322 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on PayPal from $74.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on PayPal from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of PayPal from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $80.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities restated 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. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PayPal presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.45.

PayPal Price Performance

NASDAQ PYPL opened at $85.79 on Friday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.28 and a 12-month high of $87.92. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.43.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.88 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.44% and a net margin of 14.08%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. Analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.56 EPS for the current fiscal 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.