Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stock

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 9.82% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $80.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of PayPal from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of PayPal from $88.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.55.

PayPal Trading Down 1.6 %

PYPL stock traded down $1.22 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $72.85. The company had a trading volume of 3,037,946 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,521,541. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $84.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.02. PayPal has a 12 month low of $56.97 and a 12 month high of $93.66. The stock has a market cap of $72.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.20, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.44.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,736,394 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,849,884,000 after purchasing an additional 271,836 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,923,662 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,615,134,000 after purchasing an additional 2,161,582 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 108.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,924,106 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,529,823,000 after purchasing an additional 9,313,783 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,086,508,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 12,919.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 10,500,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $819,315,000 after purchasing an additional 10,419,351 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.