JMP Securities Raises PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Price Target to $82.00

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) had its price target raised by JMP Securities from $70.00 to $82.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market outperform rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on PYPL. BTIG Research restated a neutral rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on PayPal from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of PayPal from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Stephens reissued an equal weight rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of PayPal from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Twenty-five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PayPal presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $72.73.

PayPal Price Performance

PYPL opened at $65.70 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $63.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.44. PayPal has a fifty-two week low of $50.25 and a fifty-two week high of $76.54. The firm has a market cap of $68.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.41.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 21.58%. The company had revenue of $7.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PayPal will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of the business’s 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley increased its position in PayPal by 4.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 20,069,337 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,173,254,000 after buying an additional 873,181 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at about $749,561,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,767,054 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $687,902,000 after acquiring an additional 78,105 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in PayPal by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,976,859 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $428,449,000 after purchasing an additional 265,116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in PayPal by 29.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,916,982 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $404,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,575,930 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% 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.