Easterly Investment Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 2,500 PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,500 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 113.8% during the fourth quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 7,470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $638,000 after acquiring an additional 3,976 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at $387,435,000. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. lifted its holdings in PayPal by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 697,077 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $59,489,000 after purchasing an additional 18,172 shares in the last quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in PayPal by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 33,302 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,842,000 after purchasing an additional 7,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 120.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,555,240 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $125,461,000 after buying an additional 849,311 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total transaction of $176,478.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,145,308.10. The trade was a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PYPL. Wolfe Research raised shares of PayPal from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $107.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Macquarie boosted their target price on PayPal from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of PayPal from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Fourteen equities 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.03.

PayPal Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $68.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $68.12 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. The company’s 50 day moving average is $76.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.76. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.97 and a 52 week high of $93.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $8.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. PayPal’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.