Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $28.66 Million Stock Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 67.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 465,605 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 188,089 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $28,658,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $412,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 9,947 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $611,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 61.9% during the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 36,871 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,264,000 after acquiring an additional 14,094 shares during the last quarter. Callan Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 3,960 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 488.4% during the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 23,772 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,460,000 after acquiring an additional 19,732 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on PayPal from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday. Susquehanna boosted their target price on PayPal from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Twenty-four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.72.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of PYPL opened at $67.92 on Wednesday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $50.25 and a 12-month high of $76.54. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.35. 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 stock has a market cap of $71.50 billion, a PE ratio of 17.69, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.45.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.14). PayPal had a return on equity of 20.84% and a net margin of 14.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. PayPal’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PayPal news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.64, for a total value of $466,079.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,795.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Company Profile

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.