Forsta AP Fonden Increases Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Forsta AP Fonden grew its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 205,400 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,600 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in PayPal were worth $16,027,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of PayPal by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,636,644 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $501,184,000 after purchasing an additional 276,287 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 28.1% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 8,511,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $493,907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866,925 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 180.7% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,946,460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $287,043,000 after acquiring an additional 3,184,160 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,166,795 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $183,789,000 after acquiring an additional 409,322 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 3,046,502 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $176,789,000 after acquiring an additional 146,643 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL opened at $81.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $85.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $50.25 and a 1-year high of $82.80. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $75.65 and its 200 day moving average is $67.16.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $7.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.82 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 22.82% and a net margin of 14.30%. PayPal’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PYPL. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded PayPal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on PayPal from $70.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Daiwa America upgraded PayPal from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on PayPal from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on PayPal from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.03.

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.