PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Up 1.5% on Analyst Upgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) shares shot up 1.5% on Monday after Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on the stock from $80.00 to $88.00. Monness Crespi & Hardt currently has a buy rating on the stock. PayPal traded as high as $67.24 and last traded at $66.98. 4,238,492 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 16,067,842 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.96.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on PYPL. Daiwa Capital Markets cut PayPal from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on PayPal from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on PayPal from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $66.00 price target (down previously from $118.00) on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other PayPal news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.64, for a total transaction of $466,079.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,795.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Sutton Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 115.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sutton Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 443 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PayPal Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $63.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.27. The company has a market capitalization of $70.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.45.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.12. PayPal had a return on equity of 20.84% and a net margin of 14.26%. The company had revenue of $8.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. PayPal’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.02 EPS for the current 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.