Avanza Fonder AB Takes $5.94 Million Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 69,599 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,940,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $819,315,000 after purchasing an additional 10,419,351 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised 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 valued at $1,307,945,000 after acquiring an additional 7,767,072 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PayPal during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $387,435,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $493,907,000 after buying an additional 1,866,925 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 9,864.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,119,262 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $87,336,000 after buying an additional 1,108,030 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on PYPL. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of PayPal from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of PayPal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PayPal presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.32.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $90.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $90.61 billion, a PE ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $87.08 and its 200-day moving average is $76.40. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.77 and a 52 week high of $93.66.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released 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 during 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%. PayPal’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current 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.