HS Management Partners LLC Reduces Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

HS Management Partners LLC reduced its stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 23.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,141,500 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 350,860 shares during the quarter. PayPal comprises approximately 6.7% of HS Management Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. HS Management Partners LLC’s holdings in PayPal were worth $97,427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 10,419,351 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in 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 position in PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $387,435,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in PayPal by 174.1% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 2,689,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $135,537,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PYPL shares. Barclays upped their price objective on PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on PayPal from $92.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.03.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total value of $176,478.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,145,308.10. This trade represents a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of PYPL stock opened at $69.50 on Thursday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $56.97 and a 52-week high of $93.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.75 billion, a PE ratio of 17.33, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.09.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS 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.