PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Price Target Increased to $60.00 by Analysts at Evercore ISI

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) had its price objective lifted by Evercore ISI from $56.00 to $60.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an in-line rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on PYPL. Oppenheimer reissued a market perform rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on PayPal from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on PayPal from $76.00 to $73.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. William Blair reiterated an outperform rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on PayPal from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Twenty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $70.47.

PayPal Price Performance

NASDAQ PYPL opened at $66.67 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $61.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.32. PayPal has a 1 year low of $50.25 and a 1 year high of $77.95. The company has a market cap of $71.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.44.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $8.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.88 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 20.84% and a net margin of 14.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that PayPal will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.64, for a total transaction of $466,079.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,795.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in PayPal by 110,462.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,136,071 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,220,431,000 after purchasing an additional 17,120,572 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,022,333,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in PayPal by 122.0% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,230,481 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $720,555,000 after purchasing an additional 3,424,122 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in PayPal by 36.2% during the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 10,771,095 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $718,755,000 after purchasing an additional 2,862,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in PayPal by 420.6% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,238,980 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $190,371,000 after purchasing an additional 2,616,774 shares in the last quarter. 68.42% of the stock is 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.