PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading 0.4% Higher – Still a Buy?

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s stock price shot up 0.4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $89.42 and last traded at $88.56. 1,212,919 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 7,998,605 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.19.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PYPL. Bank of America upgraded shares of PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $86.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on PayPal from $88.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on PayPal from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities reiterated an “accumulate” rating and issued a $90.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of PayPal in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of PayPal from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued 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 $89.48.

PayPal Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.46. 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 capitalization of $89.16 billion, a PE ratio of 21.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.44.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.13. PayPal had a net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 23.44%. The business had revenue of $7.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.88 billion. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 12,919.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in PayPal by 86.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,762,080 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,307,945,000 after purchasing an additional 7,767,072 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PayPal during the third quarter valued at $387,435,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in PayPal by 174.1% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,233,341 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $361,316,000 after purchasing an additional 2,689,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,866,925 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.