Trexquant Investment LP Acquires New Stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 437,168 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $37,312,000. PayPal accounts for about 0.4% of Trexquant Investment LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in PayPal by 1.3% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 271,836 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,086,508,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 284.0% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,804,334 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $666,100,000 after purchasing an additional 5,772,198 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,615,476 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $564,631,000 after purchasing an additional 84,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $387,435,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL opened at $65.25 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.97 and a 52 week high of $93.66. The firm has a market cap of $64.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PYPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of PayPal from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. BTIG Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $103.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Sixteen 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,145,308.10. The trade was a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.